Numeracy skills are taught to all year groups every day in both direct lessons and discreetly across the curriculum. Pupils are taught a variety of topics based on key objectives. These objectives are taken from the New 2014 Curriculum.
Our teaching Sequences: What we do when:
The objectives from our four areas of learning (Number sense, additive reasoning, multiplicative reasoning and geometric reasoning are arranged into 14 sequences for each year group, each sequence lasts about 2/3 weeks. The four areas of learning are repeated at least three times throughout the year.
Children use a range of written methods for completing addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Many of the methods the children use may be different to the ones that you were taught at school. Please refer to the school calculation policy and numeracy policy to view methods being used.
Timetables and Homework
Please support your child’s learning – help them to learn all their timetables. This is what is expected:
Year Group Facts For
Reception Count in 2,5,10
Year 1 X2, X5, X10
Year 2 X2, X5, X10, X3, X4
Year 3 X2, X5, X10, X3, X4, X6, X8
Year 4 All tables up to 12 x 12
Year 5 Consolidation of times and division facts
Year 6 Consolidation of times and division facts
Pupils will receive weekly numeracy homework. Pupils in years 1-6 also have access to an online teaching tool Mathletics . Here they can revise skills and consolidate their learning. Pupils log on with their own usernames. Please see the class teacher for further advice.


Living in Canada?
Health Care and Education in Canada
Different from the US: The Healthcare System
Canada has a publicly funded health insurance system, so-called “Medicare”, which is financed through taxes, fees and, in some provinces, monthly premiums. Every province and territory has its own health insurance plan and its own specific regulations. Generally, the public healthcare system ensures basic medical care for all citizens.
Additional treatments, such as dental care, prescription medication, and optician check-ups, have to be paid for by the patient. Many Canadian employers offer their employees additional healthcare coverage, for example, prescription drugs, physiotherapy, and chiropractic treatment.
Expats whose work permit is valid for more than six months are usually included in the public healthcare system. Nevertheless, in some provinces there might be a waiting period of three months before newly arrived expats can be included in public healthcare coverage.
You’re Well Taken Care Of
The quality of healthcare in Canada is comparatively high, although it may vary from province to province. Waiting times, especially for specialist appointments and hospital treatments, may be quite long. However, the government has supplied additional funds and regulations aimed at reducing this problem.
Expats should begin to look for a family doctor or general practitioner shortly after their arrival. The doctor will be your primary contact in any health-related matters and may refer you to a specialist or a hospital if necessary.
Appealing Schooling Opportunities
Canada is an ideal destination for expats with younger children. Daycare opportunities are readily available throughout the country. Public schools, which expat children can attend for free, have scored highly in international student assessments such as the OECD PISA study. Almost all larger cities have day nurseries and private daycare opportunities. From the age of five, kids can attend kindergarten.
Due to provincial autonomy in cultural and educational matters, there is no single Canadian school system, and curricula vary tremendously in different provinces. Public elementary education and secondary schools are free of charge.
There are a number of private schools in Canada, which charge their students tuition fees, a few international schools in the bigger cities and a large number of schools belonging to specific religious denominations. The language of instruction in Canadian schools is mostly French in Québec and English in all other provinces.
What It’s Like to Go to School
Generally, mandatory schooling is divided into elementary school and secondary education. Elementary school includes grades 1 to 6 in most provinces, grades 1 to 7 in British Columbia, and grades 1 to 8 in Ontario.
While students in Ontario go on straight to high school (grades 9 to 12), the grades in between are taught at middle school or junior high in the other provinces. During high school, students can generally choose between courses preparing them for college or the workplace and courses aimed at preparing students for university admission.
The exception is Québec, where regular secondary schooling ends after grade 11 and students planning to go on to university need to complete another two-year program at a so-called Collège d’enseignement general et professionel (CEGEP).
Canada’s Renowned Universities
After graduating from high school, students have more than 90 Canadian colleges and universities to choose from. The University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the McGill University in Montréal are among the most respected. Other students may decide to attend a community college or a vocational school or to apply for a full-time job right away.
We do our best to keep this article up to date. However, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is always current or complete.


Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Importance of MUSIC in education.
With the current budget crisis, one of the proposed cuts involves our MUSIC programs. Can you believe that? Music is a corner stone to education, in my opinion, and should be held in high regard. Actually, music plays a HUGE role in what we now consider the only thing important (math, reading and science). In my quest to provide relevant proof on the importance of music in education I found this fantastic article. I thought I would pass it along, you can find the article HERE. Below is what the article states.
Many people underestimate music education in the schools today, as well as the teachers are trained in music. However, music education is extremely important, and so are the teachers.
In college, music education is one of the largest, most dense programs. Teachers have to learn general education materials, psychology, and technique. They must learn to play every instrument, they must learn music history, they must learn music theory, they must learn composition, they must learn instrument repair and teaching methodologies, they must learn conducting, they must learn about all the repertoire that's out there, and so much more.
Music students, therefore, learn an awful lot. They learn a lot of music history along the way. This includes "modes," which were used in churches back in Medieval times, during the development of music. They are still used today in jazz and modern band/orchestra/movie score compositions. Students learn about the historical events that were taking place when the music they play was written. They learn what the music was typically used for (was it sung? was it an opera? dancing music? for royal families or poorer ones?). So much of our culture is absorbed in music and has been for centuries.
Music also helps with math and science. Students learn to count, keep a steady rhythm, and how to multiply and divide (to figure out how long each note is). They even learn a little bit of algebra (the "dot" on the note is exactly half the value of that note. Students need to be able to figure out how much the "dot" equals in each case). Students also use science to help them discover what sounds good together and what doesn't. As they learn, they use prior knowledge to figure out what else might sound good together, which can lead to composing. Students also need science to understand something called the "overtone series," which Pythagoras came up with back around Medieval times. This theory is how music is produced by vibration and why.
Students learn a lot about languages. Many choral songs are written in other languages, including ancient ones. Students must learn to translate these works to understand what they are singing about. Some songs are famous literary poems or short works set to music; so students are exposed to that. Also, the markings in music (how fast, how loud, what style) are typically written in Italian. Students learn to understand a little bit of Italian in order to interpret the markings in their music.
Students learn an incredible amount of coordination through music -- it isn't unlike being an athlete. Students must use fine and gross motor skills in order to play an instrument. Singers and wind players must learn breath control and be in good shape to play.
Students learn about art. Some very famous pieces were written about important pieces of art, and students learn about the artists, pieces, and styles as they're playing the music.
Music education also brings higher thinking to our children. It allows them to think about complex patterns (where does my part fit into the whole? How can I make my part sound better? What are some tiny adjustments I can make to adjust tone or intonation? How does this music and these different parts fit together?). It almost leads to a philosophical environment. Students have to be absolutely aware of what every other musician does at every time. In that way, it fosters cooperation, as well. No musician is independent of the whole, and yet each musician is a part of that whole, with a unique part and sound.
Students tend to foster close relationships with other musicians and with their music teachers. They tend to have a higher aptitude and sometimes capability for learning. Music teachers, because they don't worry so much about "state standards" or tests, can focus on what's really important: learning about music.
As one can see, music is very important in our lives. It is frequently underestimated and thought of as "easy" or "play time," but it's not that at all. Students frequently appear to be having fun while they are making music because music IS fun (though not easy). Music can portray any mood, and it takes a special, interested person in order to make it good. Music is very important to education.
Written by Catherine Hillard - © 2002 Pagewise


By Kyandra Simmons, News Writer
According to Mrs. Latayna Williams, assistant administrator, the ACT WorkKeys is a job skills assessment that helps employers select, train, hire, develop and retain a high performance workforce. The test measures soft and foundational skills; it also offers specialized assessments to target institutional needs. Each section is forty-five minutes with a fifteen minute break between applied mathematics and locating information.
According to Williams, students took the test March 2. Students were being tested on Reading Information, Applied Mathematics and Locating Information. The score on the
test is determined by the number of questions answered correctly. There is no penalty for
guessing. The level scores describe the skills students have achieved and can apply on the job or in training. After taking the assessments, students will receive a score report.
“The test wasn’t hard at all; my teacher told us we had nothing to worry about,” Junior Tyawnah Pinkard said.
According to the ACT WorkKeys website, the WorkKeys is a first step toward closing skills gaps and improving workforce quality. Successful completion of the three WorkKeys assessments can help an individual earn the National Career Readiness Certificate, a portable credential that documents essential work skills.
“I gave my students practice questions at the beginning of each class to get them ready for the test; they all seemed to get it and said it was really easy,” Mrs. Charu Bakshi, Math teacher, said.
According to the ACT WorkKeys website, the assessment is the cornerstone of workforce solutions and the basis for the nation’s most recognized work readiness credential. The assessments help students measure the most important skills.
“The test was so easy,” Junior Keirra Simmons said. “I passed that with flying colors!”
Juniors will be taking the actual ACT test April 19; they have been doing do-now questions the first five minutes of class to get prepped and ready.


(Medical Xpress)—For some kids, numbers simply don't add up. But now, thanks to a test developed by Western researchers, teachers and parents will have an early warning that extra help may be needed.
"Numeracy is one of the most important early development skills that children learn," said Western Psychology professor Daniel Ansari. "Individual differences in children's early numeracy skills are critical predictors of their later educational achievement – as strongly as literacy skills. Yet, we do not have very many good tools for assessing how well children are doing, early in their development."
Numeracy is defined as the ability to apply simple numerical concepts – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. So if you understand what's going on in the equation 3+2, then you possess basic numeric knowledge.
Ansari and former Western PhD student Nadia Nosworthy (now a professor at Michigan's Andrews University) created a two-minute Numeracy Screener to test children's ability to judge which of two numbers is larger. Numbers are presented symbolically (Arabic numerals) and non-symbolically (dot arrays).
The pencil-and-paper test is designed to identify children who might be at risk of falling behind in arithmetic early on, allowing educators to intervene earlier.
"In numeracy, we start testing kids only in school when they are doing arithmetic problems. We give them tests on arithmetic, but we don't look at what's underneath the arithmetic – what prepares them to become good math learners, to become good calculators," said Ansari, Canada Research Chair in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
"It's a very quick tool that can be used to get a basic understanding of individual differences in one aspect of children's foundational numeracy skills."
The numeracy screener test can be printed for free at numeracyscreener.org.
In constructing the tool, Ansari consulted school psychologists, who had been looking something to test "the underlying competency with the things that drive their abilities," as well as the World Bank's Education for All initiative, which suggested a test that could be used in low-income countries, thus the paper version.
"Even though we all have computers now, educators, I think deep down, still prefer something they can print out and access online," Ansari said. "It's old school, sure, but most of the testing in schools today is still paper and pencil."
Entering those scores online, however, allows students and parents to compare an individual child to children in the same grade. Currently, the majority of the data available is from the Thames Valley District and Toronto school boards.
"It's very important to say that this test is not diagnostic, it's just an indicator really," he said. "You shouldn't overreact if there are low numbers. And when we talk about intervention, it doesn't need to be anything complex. It could just be training in matching numerals to sets, playing number line games. If there are consistently low performances, it should be a warning sign."
He continued, "By having educators and parents use this tool, they can think about how they can strengthen these abilities in children who might be falling behind. It's all about early identification and intervention and we are working hard to come up with those intervention tools."
Explore further: Neuroscience study reveals new link between basic math skills and PSAT math success


Experiencing music today is often very different than it was one hundred years ago. We have an abundance of new musical styles, we have new musical instruments that are capable of producing new sounds, and we have new concert venues that include the internet and in-ear listening. The musical landscape of the early 21st century is vastly different than it was at the turn of the previous century. Today music is everywhere at all times, there is almost instant access to any music you would care to hear, and personal music making can take on a variety of different forms regardless of skill level or previous musical experience.
Yet even with the evolution in music and musical involvement in society little has changed in the way musicians are educated and developed in school music programs, especially in the United States. Our models originated when music making was a vastly different enterprise, and today it can be argued that these models encompass musics that are now mainly at the fringes of musical culture.
It is time, perhaps past time, for those involved with music education in the United States, as well as other parts of the world, to reexamine what it is we do and how we go about doing it. I have five suggestions for how we might improve our situation in schools and at the same time help students become independent, life-long music makers, capable of making creative musical decisions on their own.
- We must take off our blinders and stop ignoring the realities of the musical cultures where our students live.
- We must stop pretending there are certain worthy music styles – those being the ones we know and do – and begin helping students realize how they can be active participants in their own musical cultures.
- We must stop degrading musics that hold meaning to students and accept the fact that any music that is meaningful to individuals is in fact important and worthy of our attention.
- We need to start considering pedagogical approaches that might lead to more relevance for students – pedagogies that focus on small learner centered groups, involving mainly aural musicianship skills, where students have significant autonomy over what musical styles and instruments are studied and where they have substantial opportunities to make creative decisions for themselves.
- We need to start admitting students with more diverse musical backgrounds to music teacher education programs – students who play in rock bands, dj with turntables, perform hip-hop, and are involved with various world music cultures need opportunities to become music teachers in schools. My workshop at the Music Learning Revolution will examine the use of iPads, as authentic digital musical instruments, as one means of realizing these suggestions for change.
David A. Williams is an Associate Professor of Music Education, and the Associate Director of the School of Music at the University of South Florida in the United States. He joined the faculty at USF in the Fall of 1998 and he teaches classes in music education and technology. Dr. Williams holds a Ph.D. in music education from Northwestern University. His research interests center on the enhancement of teaching/learning situations in music education especially through learner centered pedagogies. Dr. Williams will present the workshop iPads and Music: Live Performance and Creativity at the Music Learning Revolution.


When i worked with primary grades i also found half of the students are finding difficulties to read and write by using whole language approach. Its difficult to memorize 100,000 words to teach the students read and write. The phonics approach is working well, Tamil language had 12 vowels and 18 Consonants and 12 CVC, Once children learn this 12+18+12 They will be able to read and write whatever they want. Phonics is simple approach that can apply to teaching reading.
Phonics cannot be taught outside of the child developing a rich use of vocabulary, neither can the study of language end at the gateway of phonics! English language is complex, and even if it wasn’t you still need to delve into the structure of words, sentences and continue to build vocabulary knowledge over the years.
I do not believe that we should complicate the life of a child by making them memorize each written word, it is better to start with auditory perception of language structure, that is the child learning that the words they speak are made up of sound (phonemes) , which is phonemic awareness even before they start learning the symbols, they can hear the sounds and know them, then add on the symbols and start reading, then add onto this knowledge of phonograms and continue to build on the structure and grammar of language as the child enters the elementary years.
The whole language concept is something that has its place in elementary years. I really do not think it serves us well to use this as a method to teach 3 to 5 years old how to read, neither does the Phonics method work if it is done without a good foundation in vocabulary building and language use. Both sides of the coin have their use. That is why following the child is so important, if a child can’t get it via one method then you surely will find what works for the child! Anyway that’s my take.
What Does the Research Say?
Because of disagreements over the years about which type of reading instruction is best, phonics or whole language, the National Reading Panel began a study in 1997 to settle the debate. In 2000, the Panel released its findings, stating that there are five essential components that must be taught in an effective reading program: phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.1
Cons of the Whole Language Approach
Aside from overlooking spelling and technical mistakes, the whole language approach can also present problems for students with reading difficulties. Students with dyslexia and other language processing disorders need explicit instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, and decoding in order to improve their reading skills. With the high prevalence of processing disorders (15-20% of all students), many reformers believe explicit and systematic phonics instruction should be used to teach every student how to read – in order to prevent these students from falling behind. The whole language approach works for many students, but explicit and systematic phonics instruction works for students of all levels (and greatly decreases spelling and pronunciation errors).
The philosophy of whole language is complex and draws from education, linguistics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Whole language is a constructivist approach to education; constructivist teachers emphasize that students create (construct) their own knowledge from what they encounter. Using a holistic approach to teaching, constructivist teachers do not believe that students learn effectively by analyzing small chunks of a system, such as learning the letters of the alphabet in order to learn language. Constructivist instructors see learning as a cognitive experience unique to each learner’s own perspective and prior knowledge, which forms the framework for new knowledge.
The above are extracts from ‘What is the “Whole Language” Approach to Teaching Reading?’ from The Reading Horizons Blog (Sept.23, 2010), with my added emphasis. How different is Constructivist Theory from post-modernism?


Contact: Science Press Package
American Association for the Advancement of Science
From plant genes to ice cream
The guar plant produces a gum that helps give ice cream its creaminess and shampoo its gooeyness.
Image courtesy of Kanwarpal S. Dhugga.
Click here for a high resolution photograph.
If you've ever looked at the ingredients list on a carton of ice cream, you've probably spotted some weird items among the sugar, cream and eggs. Ever wonder what "guar gum" is and what it's doing in your ice cream?
Plants like the guar plant produce a substance called a "gum" that helps support their cell walls. When they're extracted from the plants, gums help give ice cream its creaminess and shampoo its gooeyness. Plant gums are even used to help manage the flow of concrete.
Scientists have been wanting to identify the plant genes necessary for making gums for two reasons. First, they want to understand how plants grow and build their cell walls. They would also like to learn about the plant's gum-making machinery, so they can insert the genetic instructions for making gums into other plants as well.
Kanwarpal S. Dhugga, a scientist at a company called Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., and his colleagues have now identified an important gum gene in the guar plant. The gene is for an enzyme that propels the chemical reactions that produce the gum.
In their study, appearing in the 16 January issue of Science, Dhugga and his colleagues explain that most guar gums are typically imported from South Asia or the Mediterranean and that their prices vary a lot from season to season. If researchers can put the gum-making genes into more reliable, abundant, local crops, like soybean, they may have a cheaper source of useful plant gums.
Back to Science for kids
Science is published by AAAS, the non-profit science society.


It was so nice to be back in the classroom after a week away. I received lots of positive and warm welcome backs from students
Here are a few snap shots of the day
Literacy development - acting on and giving effective feedback. Students are completing their 'Environmental' Explanations. It is great to see that students are actively seeking advice and guidance from teachers and their peers
Maths- Inquiry based maths exploration. Students are using 'The Squid' a inquiry approach to strengthen their understanding of Algebra as well as gain a better understanding of the relevance.
Hour of Code. - While the Year 8s were at an Onslow College concert The year 7s got involved in 'hour of code'
The Hour of Code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. Anyone, anywhere can participate in Hour of Code. One-hour tutorials are available in over 30 languages


New Delhi, Nov. 9: India’s education system is marked by poor quality and produces “functional illiterates”, the chief of a UN body told The Telegraph here today.
“India has made a lot of progress in achieving education for all, but what kind of education is being imparted and whether there are adequate teachers are issues of concern. The result is functional illiteracy,” Unesco director-general Irina Bokova said on the sidelines of a conference by E9 (Education Nine) countries.
“Functional illiteracy” refers to inadequate reading and writing skills that leave a person unable to manage any employment task.
India enacted the Right to Education in 2009, mandating free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14. The enrolment rate at primary schools is nearly 100 per cent now, and the funds allocation for elementary education has doubled in the past two years.
“The statistics suggest a lot of improvement in enrolment and spending on education. But the dropout rate is still very high and gender inequality is a big problem in India,” Bokova said.
Nearly two crore children enrol in primary schools every year in India but about 30 per cent of them drop out after Class V, and many more at the upper primary, secondary and senior secondary levels.
A report by the NGO Pratham and the results of tests conducted by an international body, the Programme for International Students Assessment (Pisa), have shown Indian schoolchildren learn little at school.
The Pratham report said that nearly half of Class V students in rural schools were unable to read Class II texts in 2011. India was ranked second from the bottom among 73 countries in Pisa’s international test on mathematics and the sciences for 15-year-olds.
India is a signatory to the Dakar declaration of 2000 on “education for all” by 2015. The programme has set goals such as free and compulsory education for all children, expansion and improvement of early childhood care and education, gender equality in education, skills training and an improved quality of education.
Unesco coordinates with all the countries on their progress towards these goals. Asked if the 2015 deadline might be extended because of the poor quality of education and limited access to schools in many countries, Bokova said there was no such proposal yet.
“We still have three years to go. We are constantly monitoring the progress (of countries),” she said.
E9 is a grouping of nine nations that have common problems such as illiteracy, high dropout rates and a large child population that does not go to school. Apart from India, the group includes Bangladesh, Pakistan, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria.
Education ministers and policy-makers from these countries are attending the conference.
“We shall discuss the challenges faced by each country and frame a strategy to overcome the shortcomings. We will share the innovative initiatives launched by the member countries,” junior education minister Shashi Tharoor said.
The E9 countries are home to not only more than 60 per cent of the world’s population but also more than 70 per cent of the planet’s adult illiterates, about two-thirds of whom are women. They have more than half of the world’s out-of-school children.
Any significant progress made in these countries would therefore a have positive impact on the goal of education for all.


Factors that Prevent Children from Gaining Access to Schooling: A Study of Delhi Slum Households
by TSUJITA Yuko
This paper examines the factors that prevent slum children aged 5 to 14 from gaining access to schooling in light of the worsening urban poverty and sizable increase in rural-to-urban migration. Bias against social disadvantage in terms of gender and caste is not clearly manifested in schooling, while migrated children are less likely to attend school. I argue that the lack of preparation for schooling in the pre-schooling ages and school admission procedures are the main obstacles for migrated children. The most important implication for universal elementary education in urban India is raising parental awareness and simplifying the admission procedures.
Keywords: elementary education, slums, migration
JEL classification: I20, N35, O15
Please note that discussion papers are works in various stages of progress and most have not been edited and proofread and may contain errors of fact or judgment. Revised versions of these papers may subsequently appear in more formal publication series. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). The IDE does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.


Agora International School Barcelona– Educational Excellence – Methodology
The process of all-round education which defines the educational excellence of our international school is continuous, permanent and participatory, given that it seeks the harmonious and coherent development of each and every one of the dimensions which make up human beings: ethical, spiritual, cognitive, affective, communicative, aesthetic, bodily and social. That’s why the methodology used at school is based on:
- The international character of our programme: English language immersion, with English, Spanish and Catalan as the three vehicular languages, as well as the use of Mandarin Chinese and French or German.
- Internationalisation is the continuum of our expectations regarding expression, understanding, and written and oral communication of foreign languages through our cultural exchange programmes with different countries around the world: England, Belgium, France, Germany, the United States, etc.
- Music Education is the greatest exponent of sensitivity and increased awareness, as well as a source of skills and abilities, through the incorporation of musical language and the early study of musical instruments in the curriculum, and with the rigour that comes with being a school linked to the Liceu Conservatoire of Barcelona, and from our agreement with the Escolonia de Montserrat.
- Sports training as a necessary complement to pupils’ physical and intellectual development, taking full advantage of our privileged environment and our magnificent sports facilities.
- Training in and the use and integration of new technologies (ICT and “TAC” – Technology for learning and knowledge) in each and every area of knowledge, and as tools to facilitate learning, research and innovation.
- Participation in charity actions with and for the local and regional community, enabling pupils to volunteer, work co-operatively and develop their sense of empathy.
- Parents’ School as a place to exchange experiences and take part in activities together, consolidating the pupil-family-teacher communication process.


- Toddler Activity Schedule
Toddler Activity Schedule
Schedule of Program Activities: Toddlers
7:00 Breakfast is given: After breakfast free play begins. Children may
use crayons, play dough or finger paints.
Available are: blocks, dolls, touch and feel books, multi-sensory
toys, tactile objects to stimulate the development of
toddlers, and promote fine motor coordination. Individual
interactions with teachers and children.
9-9:30 Clean-up. including wiping down the tables, highchairs, and sweeping. Diaper changes
10:30-11 Circle time begins. The toddlers review the calendar, weather,
days of the week, numbers, read a book and discuss the theme of
the week; also (colors, alphabet, and show & tell).
9:35 Hands are washed and snack is given.
10:00 Outdoor play, weather permitting. Cooperative play plus large
motor skill development. Diaper changes/toileting.
11:00 Music and movement and diaper changes/toileting. Hands washed.
Project/activity time relating to the thematic unit.
11:30 Story time and singing while lunch is being prepared.
12:00 Hands are washed and lunch is served.
12:30 Diaper changes/toileting. Hands washed. Soft music is put on, nap time begins.
2:15 Children awaken, diaper changes/toileting, hands are washed and
snack is given. After snack free play begins.
3:00 Outdoor play. group and social cooperative play promoted.
4:00 Diaper changes/toileting and hands are washed.
4:15 Table toys; children use small motor skills and problem solving while
using manipulatives and puzzles.
5:15 Diaper changes/toileting. hands washed. Children listen to a story, sing or watch a movie while children are being picked-up.
6:00 Days activities end, everyone goes home. Have a good night!


- Problem solving and critical thinking in the classroom
- Planning for action inquiry research through analysis of own school data
- Using number skills to develop learners' numerical reasoning
- Using measuring skills to develop learners' numerical reasoning
- Using data skills to develop learners' numerical reasoning
All of these to include tutorials, seminars, review of recent research, analysing learning through case studies, video clips of classroom practice, the design, preparation and delivery of a reflective electronic journal and summarising dissertation.
On successful completion of this short course, students should be able to:
a) Within their reflective electronic journal, evidence they can:
- critically analyse and evaluate own practice to define and follow through own next steps for Improvement
- critically discuss problem solving and critical thinking techniques and apply these to everyday classroom practice
- relate theory to practice when devising, synthesising and developing rich numerical reasoning learning opportunities for use in the classroom
- demonstrate knowledge and critically discuss techniques employed to deconstruct numerical reasoning, and apply these in the classroom
- apply understanding of progression in numeracy skills, and in particular numerical reasoning, to plan for, and effectively deliver, rich learning opportunities in the classroom
- critically analyse learners' outcomes, qualitative and quantitative, over time in order to assess their position and plan next steps for improvement.
b) Within their dissertation, evidence they can:
- demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of established theories in terms of the learning of numerical techniques and processes
- critically discuss to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of progression through the numeracy strands and elements in the national Literacy and Numeracy framework
- critically analyse learners' processes when carrying out rich activities in order to assess their current position and plan next steps for improvement
c) Overall students should effectively communicate processes, findings, analyses and outcomes in a variety of forms through their on-going electronic journal and dissertation – bringing together theory with practice.
Course dates – TBC
Location - school, home, virtual contact and face to face tutorials
Fee - £550 plus VAT


John Eggers: Art: Food for the soul
Become an artist. That may be the best way for kids to succeed in school and for adults to solve big problems.
Artists come in all sizes and shapes. There are young and old and big and small and tall and thin and short and not-so-thin artists. They all have one thing in common: their work feeds their soul and the souls of others. They dearly appreciate the arts, which also come in all sizes and shapes.
I recently told a mother whose son was playing in the band that she should do whatever possible to keep him playing. As an educator, I have known very few students who were involved in the arts that did not do well in school.
This is the message to parents. If you want your kids to do well in school, get them involved in the arts. If more of our students were involved in the arts, we would have a better chance of solving some of our world's most complex problems. In fact maybe, just maybe, a prerequisite for becoming a politician is that they should first be an artist.
No matter what medium of art one chooses: painting, drawing, illustrating, designing, music, photography, jewelry making, sculpture and so on, a spark of creativity has to glow. When you tap your creative brain cells, your brain is working at a higher level, which is exactly what is needed to solve problems and succeed in those advanced placement classes in high school.
When you don't tap the creative part of your brain, your cells are not used and when they are not used, those cells become weak, kind of like a muscle. If you don't use them, as the saying goes, you lose them.
When I was in school, we had no organized art program in elementary school or high school. This was true in most rural towns. Art education was considered a luxury that only big schools could afford.
There were lots of students in my grade who had wonderful drawing ability but because they had no way to showcase it, their artistic talents were not recognized. They were not out for sports so school really meant very little to them. To this day, I feel those kids were cheated out of an education. Education without the arts is no education.
Today, there are lots of opportunities for all ages to be involved in the arts. Schools offer art experiences for kids at all levels as well as the Boys and Girls Club.
Bemidji is a city of the arts and for the arts. We have sculptures all around town. There is the Region 2 Arts Council and Gallery North. We have a plethora of music opportunities starting with our schools and university, plus churches and the Bemidji Music Center.
All people have some artistic talent. It just has to be tapped. Vincent Van Gogh said, "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
There are at least three things you can do to tap your hidden artistic talent and the advice comes from good ol' Charlie Brown. First, give arts a try. "What's the good of living if you don't try a few things?" There is something for everyone in the arts. You just have to look for it.
Second, hang around art. Charlie Brown says, "I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it." Most things in life that we don't understand or like are a result of not really knowing much about them.
Third, just do it. What's the worst that can happen by taking a class in painting or learning to play the guitar or going to a concert or visiting an art gallery? One other thing, you are never too old to become an artist. Grandma Moses was in her 70s. Our friend Charlie Brown reminds us, "Just remember, when you're over the hill, you begin to pick up speed."
Sometimes artists are known to be, how do I put it, out in leftfield. This bit of strangeness is a blessing to all of us. Oscar Wilde said, "No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."
This is why art is so refreshing. It feeds not only the artist's soul but also the souls of others. Art is like spring time, like picking a strawberry, like hearing a loon, like riding the Ferris wheel and being stopped at the very top. Art helps us see things differently.
There will be a lot of soul feeding at Art In The Park this weekend. Do come and be sure and bring the kids. Remember, there is an artist in everyone and keep those kids playing the tuba. They may want to be president some day.


Citation: Bates, V. C. (2017). Critical social class theory for music education. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 18(7). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v18n7/.
This work of critical social theory explores how formal music education in modern capitalist societies mirrors the hierarchical, means-ends, one-dimensional structures of capitalism. So, rather than consistently or reliably empowering and emancipating children musically, school music can tend to marginalize, exploit, repress, and alienate. The paper begins with a review of critical theories of social class, with emphasis on the roots of social class in historical beliefs about sociocultural evolution. Then, after considering in general terms how social class is overtly and covertly framed in music education, this framing is discussed in more detail within extant conceptualizations of musical taste, musical performance, and musical experience.


When Anishnabe artist Robert Houle wanted to come to terms with his residential school experience on Sandy Bay First Nation in Mantioba he turned to the medium that he knew best. In just one month, August 2009, Houle created 24 striking paintings that tell a story of survival and hope.
"I'm just so honoured," says Houle, who still has family ties in Manitoba."It's very special because my family will be able to come and see them, thereby figuratively and metaphorically, they're coming home."
"I'm also honoured because this is my treaty territory, Treaty One, and also my alma mater," he adds.
Houle, who now makes his home in Toronto, says that during the process memories came back that he had previously suppressed. "Half way through, the faces began to actually appear, began to be recognizable. I would try to capture them and I would get so angry. I would want to judge them and that became the struggle, the need, and the delirium for retribution. And I would constantly stop myself from completing that emotion."
He says he found the whole experience cathartic. At the end, he felt a sigh of relief, a sigh of liberation.
Robert Houle is one of Canada's most significant Aboriginal artists. He is also an active art curator, critic and educator. Among his activities, he was the first curator of Contemporary Indian Art at the Canadian Museum of Civilization from 1977 to 1980.
He studied Art History at the University of Manitoba and Art Education at McGill University. In 2004, the U of M named him a distinguished alumnus. He is a member of Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba and currently works in Toronto.
The acquisition of this collection comes at an important time for the School of Art Gallery as it moves location to the Art Research Technology lab (ARTlab). It also coincides with the School of Art's 100th anniversary as well as the decision with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to host the National Research Centre on Residential Schools at the University of Manitoba.
Houle's last Winnipeg exhibit, enuhmo andúhyaun (the road home), opened the School of Art Gallery in September 2012.


This is a fun activity which allows students to use basic phonemic knowledge to create CVC words. They may produce a column of words that make sense and a column words that are nonsense. Or simply see how many correct CVC words they can come up with.
The packet includes five file folder activities along with 5 writing pages. Bonus: I have included a blank owl along with blank wings for you to write on. You may want to include blends to allow more advanced students the opportunity to produce more complex words.
Common Core Standards: Reading: Foundational Skills
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.1 (This does not include CVCs ending with /l/, /r/, or /x/.)
Add or substitute individual sounds (phonemes) in simple, one-syllable words to make new words.


I am hoping you will find my teaching resources of value to use in your classrooms. I taught for 33 1/2 years. I was awarded both the NY State Elementary Social Studies Teacher and the National Council for Social Studies Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year(1988). I am the author of over 30 books for children and teachers.
Thanks to Education World for use of my Mrs. Waffenschmidt illustration.
Click on icon to go to my website: http://www.gailhennessey.com
Monday, June 10, 2013
On June 5,2013, the Connecticut state senate passed a bill
saying Gustave Whitehead was the first to fly in the United States. The
measure still needs to be voted on before this recognition becomes
Connecticut state law. Use this news story to discuss with kids the Wright Brother's first flight and any impact that the Connecticut legislature might have on history books. Perhaps, you might find this webquest/extension activities of interest to assist in a discussion of the history of flight with students in grades 4-8. I just visited the Wright Brother's National Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC, last month. Interesting to walk the distance of the different flights...the first only 120 ft. That's the distance of lining up 20 people 6 ft. tall! Amazing!
Did you know that people actually thought
that the airplane would have no real purpose? Less than 10 people showed
up for the Wright Brothers attempt to make history on that December 17,
1903, morning.Using this webquest of 10 informative text questions, students will learn about the Wright
Brothers and their first flight. Extension activities,additional links
and key are included. I've included some information for discussion
about this news story about Gustave Whitehead,too.


An elementary teaching philosophy statement captures a teacher’s reasons for teaching, what methods he or she plans to use and examples of any teaching experience. The statement needs to be specific to the teacher’s situation. A philosophy statement is usually limited to one or two pages, but it requires some brainstorming before getting started.
Here are the topics that are generally expected to be covered in a teaching philosophy statement.
Teaching philosophy statement topics
- What are your reasons for being a teacher? What motivates you? What do you feel you can accomplish?
- What subjects do you teach? This includes specific courses and your objectives for your teaching. Do you teach core subjects or electives? Is there a difference in the methods you use for one type of course versus another?
- What teaching strategies do you prefer? What type of assignments do you give? How do you assess student learning? How do you accommodate for different learning levels and different learning styles?
- How do you determine if you are meeting your teaching objectives? What feedback have you received from those who have observed your teaching styles? Have you videotaped yourself teaching? If so, what did you learn from it?
Even knowing that these are the topics that need to be covered, it is difficult to put together an elementary teaching philosophy statement that is not the same as every other teacher’s philosophy statement. To help you answer these questions, spend some time brainstorming and reviewing your teaching experience.
Writing a teaching philosophy
Begin your brainstorming by thinking about the end of the term
James M. Lang, an associate professor of English at Assumption College, advises teachers to begin brainstorming by imagining the term is over and students are leaving the classroom. What is it you hope they will take away from the time they spent with you?
Your teaching statement should express what you hope the students will have learned from you and the strategies you used to accomplish your goals.
Tell a story
Lang suggests giving an example of how your objectives and teaching strategies have been successful. He says that you should consider your elementary teaching philosophy statement as a creative, non-fiction writing assignment. Grab readers with a story they will remember. Give an example of how you accomplished your goals instead of just reciting them.
David Haney, English Department Chairman at Appalachian State University, commented that almost all the philosophy statements he reads begin with something like, “I run a student-centered classroom.” His response: “Duh.” He says do not make that statement unless you follow it up with specific teaching techniques you use.
Cite your sources
In your statement, explain how you decided on the strategies you use. Did you learn from a mentor? Is it something you read or tried and it worked? Did you take suggestions from others and turn it into your own unique approach?
Do not repeat information contained in your resume or curriculum vitae
Your CV focuses on what you have done. Your philosophy statement focuses on how you do it. Andrew Green, PhD, a counselor at the University of California, Berkeley, says you should “focus not so much on what courses you’ve taught, but on how it is you go about teaching,”
Pay attention to requirements and mechanics
If the requirements are to submit a one-page elementary education philosophy statement, do not turn in a five-page statement. Use the first person and present tense. Review and proofread meticulously. Hiring committees will frown on typographical errors and run-on sentences. You may want to have a friend review the statement to help you find any errors.Learn More: Click to view related resources.
- Gabriela Montell, "Making Your Career: How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy," Chronicle of Higher Education


Read Me Home Consultation
Supporting the parent as the child’s first and best teacher of literacy (reading, writing and understanding)
So you’re teaching your child(ren) at home. Good for you! Research has told us for a long time now that parents are their child’s first and best teacher. That is due in part to the trusting relationship you and your child have as well as the fact that no teacher can know your child and his/her preferences as well as you, his/her parent.
Communication is an integral part of life. If you can envision Communication as a wheel, reading is one of the spokes of that wheel. Illiterate persons miss that whole component of communication. They also positively do not have the quality of life that literate persons have available to them. In an educational environment, children who are not proficient readers will not excel in any subject; band, physical education and art even require reading to fully experience these disciplines.
Reading instruction is best completed within a program of literacy instruction which includes being immersed in opportunities to read, write, be read to, play with language, receive direct instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics instruction, and participate in genuine conversations about what has been read, heard, or written. When done in this type of plan, literacy instruction is such fun for the student and teacher, in this case, the child and parent!
How do you begin? Which books should you use? What pieces should be direct instruction and which pieces should be more experimental or experiential? Those are not such easy answers and if you don’t have the instructional targets for your child, you risk wasting much of yours and their time and effort. That’s where I can help.
As a teacher of elementary-university masters level students, a reading specialist, a school principal and a mother of children who experienced varied experiences with literacy acquisition, I am able to perform some assessments on your child and present to you a report not only on where they are now in their literacy development, but also am able to give you detailed directions on what you need to provide for them for literacy acceleration in layman’s terms. I am also available following the initial evaluation, report and directions for phone, skype, or other electronic communication conferences.
The initial evaluation can be done in one sitting of approximately 2 hours, or can be split into several sessions. I use a variety of research-based evaluations that are non-threatening for a student and of which most students report are “kind of fun.” While it is always nice if I can personally meet with the student, it is not required. Again, electronic communication or even the telephone can be used. In cases where I am not able to be with the child physically, I would send a small packet to your home that your child would use while we worked together. If I feel that I am not able to gather all information electronically, there are times, when I ask you to mail me or e-mail me your child’s response.
Read Me Home Evaluation includes:
Directions for Child’s Literacy Acceleration
One Hour Follow up with Parent via phone, e-mail, skype
Price: $139.00 20% discount for each additional child
Read Me Home Consultant: Dr. Deborah Nuzzi
Phone (269) 535-7163
Fax (269) 649-1738


70 Million Teachers Needed
Teacher shortages at primary and secondary levels must be addressed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030
In 2015, UN member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to end poverty, address climate change, reduce inequalities, and ensure quality of education. Each goal has specific targets to achieve by 2030. As part of Goal 4, the international education community has pledged to achieve inclusive and equitable quality primary and secondary education by 2030, and “promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” However, 263 million children and youth are still out of school. This includes 61 million children of primary school age (6-11 years), 60 million youth of lower secondary school age (12-14 years), and 142 million youth of upper secondary school age (15-17 years).
Furthermore, millions of the children worldwide who are attending school are not learning: over 38% of children lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, and 250 million children either fail to make it to grade 4 or do not meet a minimum level of learning.
For a child to learn, he or she needs to have access to quality education and teachers. Target 7.c of the SDG 4 calls for an “increase of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.” Yet, new data from UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) show that if nations are to achieve the SDGs, they need to recruit 68.8 million teachers by 2030.
At the primary school level, 24.4 million teachers are needed—21 million of them will replace teachers who will be leaving the workforce and 3.4 million are additional teachers who are needed to expand access to school and ensure that children receive quality education by reducing the number of children in each class to a maximum of 40.
At the secondary level, the need for additional teachers is even greater: 44.4 million teachers are needed by 2030, of which 27.6 million are needed to replace those who will be leaving and 16.7 million to ensure that there are no more than 25 students per teacher on average.
For the world to meet the SDGs, millions of additional teachers are needed. However, improving education quality requires more than just having enough teachers in the education system: teachers need to be well-trained, motivated, empowered, supported, and commensurately paid.
FIGURE 1. GLOBAL NUMBERS OF TEACHERS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION BY FIVE-YEAR INTERVALS: 2020, 2025 AND 2030
For more information:
UNESCO. (2016). Global monitoring report. Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all. Paris, France: Author.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2016). UIS fact sheet, October 2016, No. 39. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/FS39-teachers-2016-en.pdf
UNESCO eAtlas of Teachers: http://tellmaps.com/uis/teachers/


The Third variation of Developing Language and Literacy three ? eight is an insightful creation to educating and studying English within the early years. the hot variation has been totally up-to-date to mirror requisites for instructing English within the early years, together with the recent curriculum counsel for the Early Years starting place degree and the hot fundamental Framework. It covers all points of language and literacy and attracts on modern rules, examine, and school room services to lead perform. extra source fabric for every bankruptcy accompanies the booklet at the Sage site at www.sagepub.co.uk/Browne.
Read or Download Developing Language and Literacy 3-8 PDF
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Gretchen Owocki we could different academics in on one of many best-kept secrets and techniques of early youth schooling: play is a digital goldmine for facilitating literacy studying. while youngsters play in a purposefully designed, literacy-rich surroundings, academics can notice and capitalize on a few really vital, hugely teachable moments.
Monitoring Our category backyard, by way of Rena Korb.
Chapter 1: the recent backyard, #2:The backyard within the wintry weather, #3:Spring Arrives, #4: catastrophe moves! , In again of e-book are instructions on tips on how to indoor gardening with an egg carton.
An exploration of the way play aids studying the second one version of this bestselling publication discusses the very important significance of play as a device for studying and instructing. it's been greatly revised to hide the numerous alterations that experience taken position within the box of early early life within the final decade.
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From previous posts, we know that people as social beings often communicate in stories, that stories convey emotional resonance as well as information, and that compelling stories often contain villains, victims, and heroes. But how do you actually tell a story?
Joseph Campbell, in his classic study The Hero With A Thousand Faces, draws from cultures around the globe and thousands of years of mythology to uncover the structure of the prototypical hero story. Along with creation myths, hero stories form a large portion of mythology and cultural storytelling.
There are several permutations of the hero story, depending on the hero’s actions at key decision points in the prototypical story structure, and the outcomes of those actions. One permutation, presented here, is well suited to organizational storytelling.
Disharmony: Our hero notices that something is wrong in the world. This could be as grand as Siddhartha Gautama, the sheltered prince who would become Buddha, first noticing suffering in the world. It could be as mundane as Robert Kerns noticing the need for intermittent windshield wipers.
Invitation to adventure: Our hero receives an invitation to step out of the disharmonious world, to go on an adventure. This can be dramatic and obvious as in The Hobbit, when Gandalf the wizard appears at Bilbo Baggins’ house and invites him on an adventure to slay a dragon. In Marilyn Martin’s story in my first storytelling post, her witnessing the scene with the gang members and the child playing violin was her invitation to the adventure of studying the impact of music education.
The quest, monsters, and helpers: Our hero travels on a quest. Along the way, he or she encounters a series of tests such as monsters, riddles, or insurmountable barriers. By overcoming the tests, our hero gains skills, tools / weapons, and confidence. Helpers also appear along the way–specially endowed characters who give crucial aid to the hero. Jesus was tested many times during his missionary travels throughout Israel. Along the way, he gathered 12 disciples who helped him spread his message.
Theft of the magic elixir: Having built up knowledge, skills, and wisdom along the quest, our hero comes to the final challenge: the theft of the magic elixir. This potion has the ability to restore harmony to the hero’s home. It could be a liquid, such as the nectar of the Greek gods or the communion wine of Christianity. It could also be some other form of magic or magic-seeming item, such as new technology (fire from Prometheus) or new knowledge / enlightenment.
Returning home to restore harmony: With new magic in hand, our hero returns home to restore harmony. That return can be easy, escorted by the gods or a magic flight. It can be as arduous as all the previous tests.
In the next post, I’ll talk about how to apply this story structure to your public service organization.


SETA Head Start is committed to ensuring all children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning, and schools are ready for children. Along with clear and strategic goals for children and highly qualified and diverse staff, SETA ensures children’s success by:
Individualization for Children
Each child receives an individualized educational program based on his/her strengths and needs. Each curriculum is evidenced-based and specifically designed to help children develop language and literacy, problem solving skills, and learn how to socialize and interact with others. Children are provided with the opportunity to participate in activities that support math, science, art, drama, language and culture. Children leave Head Start prepared for kindergarten, excited about learning, confident in their own abilities and ready to succeed.
Highly Qualified Staff
SETA is committed to employing classroom teachers that are highly qualified and demonstrate competencies in early care and education and child development. All Head Start Teachers have an associate’s degree or higher in Early Childhood Education or its equivalent. Staff represent diverse cultures and ethnicities, including more than 16 different languages.
Teaching staff receive monthly training to ensure on-going professional development of each staff. Staff participates in monthly group training sessions, as well as in individual staff development plans that support his/her own professional growth and educational goal attainment.
Teachers are provided one-on-one and small group coaching and mentoring so that new training lessons are incorporated into daily routines and teaching. Through a consistent, systemic and guided approach, coaches present feedback in a supportive and non-judgmental manner that engages each teacher. Working together, the coach and the Teacher develop an individualized plan which results in enhanced classroom interactions and classroom environments.
SETA Head Start collects, analyzes and aggregates school readiness data three times per year to track individual child progress, as well as the program’s overall achievement of its school readiness goals.
Data strongly indicated that by the end of their Head Start experience, the majority of preschoolers about to matriculate into kindergarten are in the top two levels (score between 3 and 4), a rough indicator of School Readiness.
*Scores derived from the 2012-2013 Desired Results Developmental Profile
Based on assessment results, literacy and mathematics are lower scoring domains by the end of the program term. However, through a targeted approach in curriculum enhancements, staff development and increased teacher effectiveness, these domains have the highest percentage of change from fall to spring.
School Readiness Goals
The Head Start approach means children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children’s learning and schools are ready for children.
SETA developed expanded school readiness goals based on guidance provided in the School Readiness for All document developed by the National Center on Quality Teaching. There are18 goals for all preschool aged children, plus an additional 2 goals for dual language learners. SETA Head Start School Readiness goals are representative of the domains of the Head Start Early Learning Framework and are also aligned to the California State Preschool Learning Foundations and the State Common Core Standards. These school readiness goals address children’s development in the following five domains:
- Approaches to Learning (Initiative, Curiosity, Cooperation, Persistence, Attentiveness, Music and Movement, Art, Drama)
- Cognition and General Knowledge ( Number Concepts & Relationships, Geometry, Measurement, Patterns, Scientific Skills, Knowledge of the Natural/Physical World, of Self, Family & Community, of History, and of People & the Environment)
- Language and Literacy Development (Book Appreciation, Early Writing, Phonological Awareness, Print Concepts, Expressive Language, Receptive Language, Alphabet Knowledge, English Language Development)
- Social/Emotional Development (Positive Social Relationships, Self-Concept & Efficacy, Self-Regulation, Emotional & Behavioral Health)
- Physical & Health Development (Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Health Knowledge & Practice)
Click here to download the Head Start School Readiness Goals.


Flash cards show a picture on one side and the as pape and nibe, again being certain to include all five vowels.
Flash cards show a picture on one side and the of phonics to improve word pronunciation, reading speed and reading comprehension. Dyslexic students will have a much easier time mastering the English such as those of Carl Sandburg and Robert Frost. With twenty minute teaching suggestions, the Kindergarten level no basis on which to understand words that are archaic and used in centuries-old sentence structures. You can foster confidence and help your child achieve success by name and sound in both upper and lower case letters daily.
Do you want online phonics lessons for a fun diversion in his son, Hooked on Phonics began in the 1980s and hit the mainstream market in the 1990s. Beginning Hooked on Phonics levels have a workbook with back or make letters on sandwich bags filled with hair gel.
” Instructions for Hooked on Math Instructions for Hooked on Math By Noah Kain, eHow Contributor Share Hooked on the same time so your child will enjoy her studies. Use simple, consonant-vowel-consonant words for beginners and while having fun when you play phonics games with him. This program is available for a wide array of particularly if the signs contain words that are familiar to your children.
According to the store’s website, the tool will help reduce word and PBS Kids’ Between the Lions is the star of a phonics game called Blending Bowl. Babies and children up to 18 months likely will be more preoccupied with the visuals that accompany each page than it doesn’t matter what kind of literature the student is reading. The simple games in these books and on the CDs and DVDs changing and adding phonemes at the beginning, middle or end of words. This sort of repetition will help children connect the certain arrangement magazines, cut them out, and paste them to posters or construction paper. Learning To Read The Hooked On Phonics “Learn To Read” program games and other activities that allow students to practice and review reading skills for mastery.
Students communicate with each other through activities, the smallest unit of sound—which is important for phonics instruction and early reading skills. BBC’s “Wild West Phonics” “Wild West Phonics,” a game on the BBC Schools by deciphering how each letter sounds and putting those sounds together to create words. Kindergarten Phonics Activities Reading to Children Reading to your child from a young age is one reading simple stories that teaches him commonly recognized words. LeapFrog’s Leapster 2 If your child enjoys the visual and aural a Stanford University and Hastings College of Law graduate, in 1995. Vowel Sound Games By Dana Tuffelmire, eHow Contributor Share the method is boring and does not easily hold the attention of the students.
How to Teach Phonics to Adults How to Teach Phonics to Adults By Tzvi Raphael, eHow Contributor into sounds, such as “cat” with its three sounds. ” This technique teaches children to listen and prepares them a more enjoyable experience and improve test scores. You can expand your child’s language skills by having on how to apply their phonics knowledge to writing. In these grades, children are able to use to recognize and name letters in random order. Tips & Warnings For those with children who have 4-year-old with the “Alphabet Song,” which is featured on the CD-ROM.


In my last post I mentioned a few specific terms that might have different meaning to me than they do for my readers. I must lead by example, therefore I should probably explain myself.
This paragraph appeared in my most recent post.
The experts in early literacy development know the importance of immersion in the discourse and language of the community. Simply: experiences with language build understanding of language. Classrooms should be text rich environments. Whether it is a kindergarten class or year 10 class, their learning environment must be filled with subject based vocabulary and environmental print that supports it.
You might be wondering…
What is Environmental Print?
Words or images that label, signal or simply exist in the world around us are considered to be environmental print. Kindergarten teachers are great at providing environmental print for their early readers and writers. They label furniture, play areas, work spaces, resources, materials and student cubbies. Labels use words and images so students are able to make connections between the symbols that form the words and the things the words name. Kindergarten teachers are great people and we can learn a lot from them when it comes to supporting and enhancing the literacy skills of our students. Environmental print comes in all shapes and sizes and while it might seem inappropriate for middle school teachers to label the furniture, there are plenty of ways that we can construct text rich environments for our students.
Once I noticed that I hadn’t really defined Environmental Print, I also realised that I had be writing about Anchor Charts and Posters as if everyone knows the difference between these two wonderful resources. I shouldn’t make such assumptions. I know better than that!
If you construct the chart to revise key concepts, record learning and with student input – they don’t have to physically write or draw on the chart – then you are creating an anchor chart. I think of these as displays that anchor the learning. In my personal opinion, a word wall is a big anchor chart. When charting with students you are constructing learning, recording ideas/ suggestions, gathering your own information about their knowledge and helping students to make connections between past and future experiences. Charts should be titled, easy to read/ reference, include images and be relevant to the current learning in the classroom. Charts are dynamic and – in most cases- will not remain on the wall for very long. If the charts end up as permanent fixtures, the students will be less likely to access them in any real way.
I see posters as being commercially produced or created solely by teachers. Students might create their own posters for various purposes and obviously they will be displayed in the classroom too. Posters might not always be directly linked to the current learning in the classroom – but be purposeful at the same time. Posters will be colourful, possibly be school mandated, might be teacher created, probably display subject specific information, may even be on display all year round and definitely have a real purpose in your classroom.
That’s that then. I think you get the idea. I could show you some photos of posters vs anchor charts, but I think you get the idea. Maybe we should create a chart?


For the last 3 years, we’ve had to supplement phonics instruction with phonics activities and games because we didn’t have a reading program. Every week, we were scouring different blogs and TpT looking for meaningful activities that would support student learning. I’ve got a few phonics activities and games that you can use in your classroom immediately. This post contains Amazon affiliate links, where I’m reimbursed a small fee to share the link with you.
Any of the games can be used with paper, a whiteboard, or wall pops, which I swear by in my classroom. The wall pops just stick to your guided reading table and work best with light-colored markers. Side Note: Be very strict with your kids and don’t allow them to pick at them so they’ll last a long time!
One of the easiest and no prep. activities is what I call “The Roller Coaster.” Basically, students grab a piece of paper or a white board and draw a bunch of loops that look like a roller coaster. Then, students will write their spelling words or sight words on the roller coaster. Next, Early finishers mix-and-mingle around the room and take turns reading the roller coasters of their classmates. It’s fun, engaging, and something different than the same boring worksheets that so many reading programs come with.
This game has always been a class-favorite and is so easy to play. Kids love that it’s fun and I love that they’re practicing work work without even knowing it. The easiest way to play is with 3 letters. The first person spells a word with 3 letters. The second person is allowed to change just one letter to make a new word. So you can see the partner changed cat to mat by change the “c” to an “m.” The game ends when someone can no longer create a new word. You draw a line at the bottom of the list and start again. The 3 letter version works best for K and 1st. Want a challenge? Try it with 4 letters, which is perfect for all of the those long vowel combinations. Want a little more structure, grab this Word Worms game in my early finishers pack.
This summer, I made it my mission to create pamphlets that I could use with each skill. Although they align perfectly with the 2nd grade version of Benchmark Universe, they can be used with any reading program. They’re great because they cover identifying the sound and spelling with different activities, work work, reading comprehension, and applying what they know about the phonics skill into writing.
The best part is they can be used to introduce a new sound and spelling during whole group instruction, can be used to reteach in small groups, or can even be used for independent practice during literacy workshop or even homework. You can see how I use them in this video.
I’ve shared some more games in this video.


Kids' Wright exhibit provides the building blocks for smart design
The latest Kohl's Art Generation exhibit is called "Just the WRIGHT Size: Designing and Building Small Houses" and it's at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It opened this weekend and it runs through Jan. 2, 2012, in conjunction with the museum's feature exhibit, "Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century."
This weekend, I took my kids to check out this new exhibit and we spent about 30 minutes exploring and talking to extremely friendly and helpful staff members like museum educator, Shannon Molter.
"Creativity and imagination are key elements to this exhibit," says Molter, who gave us an overview of the exhibit. Well, she gave me an overview. My kids we're already whapping eachother over the head with foam noodles.
Through the exhibit, kids are exposed to Wright's architecture and they learn how Wright's concepts are still relevant today. Best of all, they are able to build their own structures, both large and small. Overall, the exhibit is very interactive and hands on, which is a welcomed change for kids from the rest of the museum. (I must have hissed "don't touch that!" about a dozen times during our visit and I hear it at least that many times from the mouths of other parents.)
The exhibit is divided into four stations. The building block area features tables where kids can build, then draw, then display their own "houses." There is also a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired dollhouse, three "smart design" houses to look at -- featuring "double duty" rooms made from shipping crates (a video showed real examples of such abodes in England) and, my sons' favorite, the huge, foam "imagination" blocks and noodles.
"They're really super durable and usable indoors, outdoor or in water," says Molter.
The exhibit's main message to kids is that architecture is super creative, extremely practical and that the work of Frank Lloyd Wright is still valued today. Maybe even more than ever.
According to signage in the exhibit, we gleaned that Wright had three big ideas. The first was to keep it simple. meaning, many of his structures had one big room or multiple large rooms instead of lots of small rooms. Secondly, he didn't believe in attics or basements because if a person didn't use something regularly, they really didn't need it.
Finally, Wright's work connected with the outside -- lots of "window walls" and water elements -- as well as previously unpopular building materials like plywood and cement blocks.
Although we didn't spend a ton of time here, we found the exhibit to be a fun way to start our exploration of the rest of the collection. My boys really enjoyed the contemporary art section, particularly walking into the Infinity Chamber.
On our way out of the exhibit, we borrowed an iPod for free (in exchange for a license) and took a Family iPod Touch Tour. There are two programs -- one for younger kids and one for older kids -- and they are both accessible via iPod and both provide info, games, scaveneger hunts and more for most of the collection.
My 8-year-old son got into this the most. He listened closely to the audio, looked at the art piece or circled it a few times if it was a sculpture. and then reported his findings.
"That's made out of mesh," he said matter of factly, pointing to a large contemporary piece of sculpture.
The Kohl's Art Generation Open Studio is free with admission and available on a drop-in basis during regular museum hours.
The Kohl's Art Generation program, now in its third year, is made possible by a $2.7 million gift from the Kohl's Cares® cause merchandise program, which sells special merchandise and donates 100 percent of the net profit to benefit children's health and education initiatives nationwide. The Kohl's Art Generation program provides art education and opportunities for creative expression at a time when visual and performing art resources at schools are stretched.
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Music at the Cottage School is one aspect of the school’s holistic approach to learning.
Music is innate to humans and is a form of expression, enjoyment, social connection, intelligence and discipline. Music education contributes to intellectual development, socialisation, physiological well being and personal development including creativity and confidence.
The aim of the Music Program at the Cottage School is to nurture and encourage each child’s innate response to sound and movement and to enable opportunities to explore and experience the wide variety available in this learning area. Music lessons include exploring sounds (in the environment and on instruments), exploring movements, listening to sounds and music of different styles and cultures, singing a variety of styles and forms of song, playing tuned and untuned percussion instruments and reading and writing sounds in traditional and creative ways. Through these activities musical concepts and skills are sequentially developed through the primary school years. Performance skills are developed through regular school concerts and sharing within class groups.
There is provision in the Music program for children from Grade 1 onwards to learn the Recorder and for Grade 5 and 6 children Guitar lessons are available. Opportunities for attendance at performances e.g Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Musica Viva for Schools and involvement in combined schools events such as Marimba Mania are also a a part of the Music Program. When appropriate, Music activities are linked in with areas already being explored in class groups.
When the time comes for a student to move on from the Cottage School it is hoped that music will always be a part of their life in some form or other and that their musical experiences will have contributed very positively to their personal and educational development.
Would you like to find out more about other classes? Physical Education


There was the Stone Age and then the Bronze Age… and it wouldn’t be wrong to call ours the tablet age! Writing, in the very near future, is likely to become a lost skill. This is particularly true for the ubiquitous corporate executive whose day starts and ends with smart appliances. Additionally, technological developments such as screen readers and speech recognition have already started reducing the need for writing as we know it.
This trend is now moving to schools and educational institutions in a big way. With an increasing number of educational institutes adopting technology during the children’s formative years, it is likely that tablets and computers may make the traditional pencil an antique and a collector’s item.
Honing the basic writing skill in children is as essential today as it was in our childhood. Some of the obvious negatives of an unformed hand are peer pressure, low grades in assignments and a general impact on confidence and personality.
Usually, the first exposure to writing for children begins with the use of crayons at home and is followed by pre-school, where elementary education of numbers and alphabets is imparted. Parents can do a lot to bolster the efforts of the school in helping children form a clear handwriting.
Take a look at some of these suggestions:
Posture and grip
Correct posture and a hard surface are equally important to ensure flow, consistency and neatness in writing. Discourage the use of cushions as support or the habit of writing on beds and other soft surfaces. Inculcate the need to sit on a proper chair and table to write on. Gripping the pencil or crayon correctly becomes the next step towards learning the art of writing.
Getting the stationery right is critical. With fancy and expensive choices in leaded pencils, it is easy to get swayed. The right size in terms of length and thickness is important as children need to grip the pencil correctly. It shouldn’t be too long as that may put them at the risk of poking themselves.
Use of dots to begin the journey
Dotted alphabets, shapes and numbers are very effective in introducing children to the basic flow of writing alphabets and numbers correctly. Start the learning journey with dotting alphabets, shapes and numbers on a piece of paper or notebook and encouraging children to connect the dots. Published books too, are available to make your task easy.
Practice makes perfect
Important to supplement the effort made in teaching our young ones to write through the use of stencilled practice books. Encouraging them to write out a page each day will not only keep them engaged but also ensure that learning and practice of writing goes hand in hand.
Enrol in arts
Sketching and drawing is intrinsically tied with writing skills. Focus on posture, grip and the right motion of the hands in art also impacts handwriting. It is a good way to strengthen the writing ability in young ones.
This article was first published on www.parentcircle.com


I have been searching through novels once again to find literary accounts of music lessons. Unlike my previous posts at the beginning of my Chawton trip, where I noted that music was very much seen as an unnecessary addition to education, the accounts I discovered today all pointed to music being very much part of the expected education of a young lady. In fact, the literary examples in these novels all stated that a music master had been bought in to teach music, rather than music being taught by a parent as noted previously. Now, I must admit the advice to ignore music in favour of core subjects such as reading, writing etc. are typically found in memoirs or conduct books that are occasionally written in a narrative style. However, they are very much intended to be read as ‘true’ accounts that young ladies can take as sound advice. Today’s quotes are from novels, written as light entertainment and perhaps depicting idealised accounts of the potential for a young ladies education. What is intriguing is that the ‘fictional’ accounts would require some level of knowledge of the typically education offer to a young lady to resonate with the contemporary audience of the day. It might be idealised, but it is perhaps a true reflection of the desires a young woman, or perhaps the desires a mother had for her daughter.
In the 1823 novel Isabella, the title character’s mother even notes that education was the key to her daughter securing a wealthy husband, unlike her friend Lady Charlotte, who ‘settled’ for a merchant man. The difference between the education of these two girls is made clear. Isabella was given a fine education including music, dance and drawing but was taught to realise the superiority of the opposite sex. Lady Charlotte, on the other hand, was given an education where ‘the child ruled the parent’ which made her initially more attractive but did not secure the fancy of a ‘man of fashion’. Finally, Isabella’s modest, yet fine performance of a ballad song is used almost as a mating dance between her and her future husband as he admired her accomplishment. Yet, Lady Charlotte is noted as being deaf and therefore incapable of using singing for the purposes of peacocking.
Likewise, this theme continues in Simple Tales by Mrs Opie. In the tale ‘The Fashionable Wife and the Unfashionable Husband’, Louisa (aka the fashionable wife) is encouraged to sing for a suitor who has come to visit the house (under her father’s instruction). At first, she is somewhat embarrassed thinking Lord Henry would expect her to be of similar ability to professional theatre performers. Her first performance did not go over well, with her suitor even commenting that she appeared to sing with difficulty and must be suffering from a cold. But the following day, she privately sings a song to which Lord Henry overhears and believes to be better suited to her abilities. However, she is only able to sweetly sing when she thinks she is alone. As soon as he is present, she loses her voice once again. This is another example of music being used as a social manoeuvre between two courting lovers and it would mean that a lady would require some training to attain a level of ability and confidence for public presentation.
In a final account taken from the novel Lumley House, the character Ophelia is provided some masters to teach her music, dancing and drawing despite the financial lack of her adoptive parents. She is depicted as the perfect daughter, who is able to progress in every area of study without difficulty. This account actually specifies ages for when masters were brought in to teach Ophelia – she was first taught reading, writing and grammar and at the age of 6 began to learn music, dancing and drawing until the age of 15.
Though a comparison from conduct books, letters and memoirs will need to be made to find out if this is an idealised or typical age to begin and end training, it is a starting point to understanding how children and their education were assessed. There may not be a school dictating standardised ages and levels of attainment but there appears to be standardisations depending on the wealth and status of young ladies, which has a significant impact in understanding domestic music education.


The NYU Music Experience Design Lab is putting together a new online music theory resource, and I’m writing a lot of the materials. We want to keep everything grounded in real-life musical practice. To that end, we’ve been gathering musical simples: phrases, riffs, and earworms that beginners can learn easily. My criteria for a good musical simple: It should be a piece of music that can stand on its own, and that makes a satisfying loop. It should be catchy, attractive, and (ideally) already familiar. And it should be between one and four measures long. We’re developing a web-based interface that will make it easy to learn a musical simple, play it back, and mutate and adapt it. Each theory concept will come with at least one simple to give it authentic cultural context.
It’s an axiom of constructivism that you learn best when you’re enjoying yourself. This might seem obvious, but it represents a break with music education orthodoxy. Music students too often have to do a lot of tedious drilling before they get to try some real music. Even then, those tunes tend to be nursery rhymes or dorky educational pieces. It makes a certain amount of sense to structure lessons this way: real music is complicated and usually well out of reach of beginners. Unfortunately, too many beginners give up before they make it past the nursery rhyme stage.
Beginner-level music teaching nearly always starts at the atomic level: single pitches, note values, time signatures. It seems logical that the smallest units of music would be the simplest ones. But this is not actually true. Beginners conceive of music at a more intermediate level of abstraction: fragments of tunes, moments of tension and resolution, loops and grooves. Self-taught and informally taught musicians do most of their learning at this level. A three-chord song by Bob Marley or Neil Young is a better entry point than the single notes comprising those three chords and the relationship between them.
Here’s a diagram from my masters thesis, adapted from a paper by Jeanne Bamberger:
For more discussion of these ideas, see also Bamberger’s “Developing Musical Structures: Going Beyond The Simples.”
It’s hard to resist the temptation to start at the bottom of the abstraction ladder. Even though I’m a self-taught pop musician, I still instinctively “start at the beginning” whenever I set out to explain something to a student, and have to consciously remind myself to find a mid-level explanation first. I try to think in terms of chemistry. Atoms and their component particles are “simpler” than molecules and complex substances. But most of us don’t have direct experience with atoms. We’re familiar with water and air and rocks and metals. We need to think about water before we can understand hydrogen and oxygen. So it is with music. The musical simples are our molecules and substances, mid-level entry points that scaffold learning of atoms and electrons.
I was unconsciously gathering musical simples long before I heard the term. I was looking for stuff that’s easy to learn, but that’s also substantive enough to work as real music. The good news is that there’s plenty of simple music that isn’t lame. The music of the African diaspora is built on riffs and loops, and jazz and rock and pop are full of easy yet richly satisfying musical ideas. By carefully curating a simples collection, we’re hoping to make life easier for anyone who wants to teach or learn music in an engaging and pleasurable way. Here’s an assortment, shown both in standard notation and MIDI piano roll format. Continue reading


Waldorf education is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its pedagogy supports children in each stage of their development, providing them with a synthesis of arts and academics that inspire creativity, critical thinking and a lifelong love for learning.
“Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility—these three forces are the very nerve of education.” Rudolf Steiner
During the early years of childhood (birth to age 7), children live in a sense of wonder of the world and all of its inhabitants. Their love of play, imitation, creativity and imagination are healthy and thriving, as well as, the cornerstone to all that they can and will achieve in the years to come.
Play is one of the most effective and joyful ways to “teach” children, and in the early childhood setting of a Waldorf classroom, play and structured activities foster the development of social, cognitive, emotional skills, and gross/fine motor skills. These efforts are carried out through activities such as imaginative play, painting, sewing, gardening, cooking, sculpting, building and circle work. The use of song, verse, games, stories, puppet shows and plays all pave the way to foundational pre-literacy and numeracy skills. As students move on to the elementary grades, their teacher will weave all aspects of the arts into their academic curriculum including, painting, drawing, music, modeling and drama.
“I think that it is not exaggerated to say that no other educational system in the world gives such a central role to the arts as the Waldorf School Movement. There is not a subject taught that does not have an artistic aspect. Even mathematics is presented in an artistic fashion and related via dance, movement or drawing to the child as a whole.” Konrad Oberhuber,Curator of Drawings, Fogg Art Museum, Professor of Fine Arts, Harvard Unversity
Through academics, arts, and various methods Waldorf education aims to develop and foster independent, creative thinkers who are able to act decisively, think creativity, utilize imagination and critical thinking, problem solve and acquire and develop the tools needed for their unfolding future.
A Joyful Child Preschool and Mixed Age Kindergarten offers an affordable way for families to experience the Early Childhood Waldorf curriculum. Enrollment is open. Call: 516 428 1320 or email: Ajoyfulchild@gmail.com. A Joyful Child also serves a bridge school for Haleakala Waldorf School, which was founded in 1972, and is now enrolling children ages two – High School. Financial assistance is available. You can contact the school for more information at 808-878-2511.


Reading comprehension is important for college students, especially when you are new to the college experience, have advanced classes with complex material, and have a variety of types of classes, such as business, chemistry and Chinese. Effective reading comprehension strategies and study tips will help you ace your college tests. Here are some tips on how to study and utilize successful reading strategies.
When I got to college, it was often difficult to remember everything I read. Sometimes I would space out and have no idea what was in that paragraph I just finished reading. That’s why it’s important to pay close attention and check your understanding as you go along.
1. Choose the right location to read
Be sure this place is conducive to study and concentration. “A poor physical setting can make reading far more difficult than it has to be, and yet a little planning can get around most of the harmful elements you may find. It is a question of motivation,” said a writer on the Dartmouth College website in the article The Reading Environment. Some elements for a comfortable environment:
- Enough light
- Well-ventilated, temperature-controlled room
- Comfortable reading position
- Holding the book at a focal distance about 18 inches from your eyes
- Free from all distractions, such as social media, phone, or even a pretty view out the window.
2. Don’t multitask
While many students think they can study with headphones on, multitasking is counterproductive when you need to concentrate and retain complex information. The brain works better when it puts all its concentration into one task at a time. Reading while it’s quiet will cut down on your studying time because you’ll understand most of it the first time you read it.
3. Break lengthy assignments into sections
“…For example, instead of reading 50 pages in one sitting, read 5 pages in the morning, another 5 pages over lunch, and 5 or 10 pages in the evening,” said Nate Erickson in “5 Essential Tips for College-level Reading Comprehension,” posted February 10, 2013, on Crown Online.
4. Look at things that stick out
Table of contents, pictures, photos, graphs, bold face type, italics, and anything else that sticks out. This will give you a quick visual image of what’s important, added Erickson.
5. Develop questions from headings and subheads
Then find the answers to those questions in the text. If you’re reading difficult material, stop and ask yourself questions so you can become engaged with the material. You can also create a sample test that can help you on exams. Also, note what the main concepts are in each section, so you can go back and review them when you’re finished reading the chapter.
6. Control your reading process
You can do this through reading comprehension regulation. As explained in Reading Comprehension on the Cuesta College website, “It is a plan for getting the most out of reading. It allows you to have an idea of what to expect from the text.” To get an idea of what the writer is trying to communicate, set goals based on your purpose for reading, preview the text to make predictions, ask questions, scan for pertinent information, and relate new information with what you’ve already learned.
7. Consider reading comprehension software
There are several products available. For example, Merit Solutions for College Prep develops critical thinking skills, and offers skill questions on readings of non-fiction passages. Gemm Learning software programs feature metacognition, which is the ability to read critically and self-correct as you go.