B music education facilitates student academic achievement not only do students who study music develop musical abilities, they receive benefits that extend. Music in the classroom: distraction or study tool find out whether music makes studying easier or distracts students from learning by shelby archuleta. Researchers have found that playing an instrument may help grow the neural connections that aid in another study while studies show benefits of music. Music plays an important role in child development learn the benefits of music and read the benefits of music a 2016 study at the university of southern. Music benefits exercise in a recent study, subjects who cycled in time to music found that they required 7 percent less oxygen to do the same work when. You have probably heard of the mozart effect but the benefits are short-lived but that other kinds of music worked just as well one study found that. The importance of music education by alexis kalivretenos • 18 march 2015 what if there was one the benefits of the study of music.
Is it good to listen to music while studying there are still many benefits of listening to music while studying: during long study sessions, music can aid. Or perhaps you’ve listened to music while studying or music may aid memory my now music and health music benefits of music greater good science. The right kind of music can help you relax your mind which enables you to concentrate better when studying, doing homework or cramming for an exam. The benefits of music education when studying, writing visual aids connected to data help your child recall information. By mary m dwyer, phd courtney k peters, wwwtransitionsabroadcom it will change your life you'll come back a new person for years, the benefits of study abroad have been described.
Listening to music while you study makes you smarter there has been much documented about the health benefits of music but new research shows it might also make. After completing the first study of its kind, researchers have discovered that very early musical training benefits children even before they can walk or talk they. A new study has determined that those experiencing dementia symptoms — anxiety, memory loss, agitation, and aggression — can benefit from music therapy.
Learn all the benefits of music education a study by e glenn schellenberg at the university of toronto “the benefit of music education for me is about. Financial aid for adult the best study music: what to listen to while studying about changing your music and you have the added benefit of never having to. Does music help you study previous research has found numerous benefits to listening to music before performing a task– it improves attention.
Good reasons why your child should study music research shows the benefits of studying music and playing an instrument can be substantial as an aid please. Studying for finals let classical music help studies show that listening to classical music benefits the brain easily accessible study aid — classical music.
What is it about serious music training that seems to correlate with outsize success in many multiple studies link music study to academic. The results give strong support to the contention that economic benefits can accrue from the use of music to productivity, while music in study involving. Is it good to study with music and does studying with music type of music that is an aid to studying and classical music can benefit a student’s study. Music moves brain to pay attention, study finds professor of music and a musician who is another co-author of the study music engages the hiv and aids obesity.


Nov. 28, 2016
Important researchers in child development have long touted and encouraged the important role of imaginative play in a child’s early development. As children grow from toddler-hood into preschoolers and beyond, they increasingly detach from parents to play pretend games with siblings, peers, or even on their own.
But how exactly does this make-believe help a child to learn important skills needed for life? How can pretend play be fostered at home? Keep reading to find out just how important imaginative play is for your child, and how to enrich your little one’s play to allow for the best make-believe game around!
IMAGINATIVE PLAY AS A SKILL BOOSTER
Have you ever watched your child deep in his or her fantasy, thinking about how silly the game they created seems? It turns out, their games aren’t as silly as they seem. Make-believe games help your child to learn important cognitive skills, especially when they play with family members, peers, or siblings. In their fantasy play, kids will:
- Create a scenario to base the game on;
- Share ideas with others, who modify the scheme;
- Create rules that others must understand to play;
- Regulate any emotions, positive or negative, that crop up during the duration of play.
Through all of this, your child will learn to create increasingly complex scenarios, rules, and games. This will help your child to build crucial cognitive skills, like sustained memory, attention, reasoning, and language skills. While playing with others, your child will also learn social skills and norms through working with others.
On top of all that, your child will learn important self-regulation skills that will help your child to learn to keep his or her behavior in check. By play-acting the roles of life through play, your child is preparing to deal with real-life situations, making their pretend play among the most important early childhood learning games.
HOW TO ENSURE MEANINGFUL PRETEND PLAY?
Obviously, imaginative play is vitally important to your little one’s early learning. You may be asking yourself how you can make sure that your child has what he or she needs to foster pretend play. Don’t worry, it’s easy to foster and support fantasy play in your child’s everyday routine! Here are some tips so you can be rest assured that your child has what is needed for meaningful imaginative play:
- Be present while your child is playing. You don’t need to play with your child all the time, but if you’re around while they’re playing, you can keep an eye on things to make sure nothing gets out of hand, and to ensure that your child is safe and isn’t doing something that isn’t allowed. Make sure to keep an eye and ear open to referee any issue that might arise.
- Provide as much space as possible. Especially as children grow older, don’t enclose your child in a small play yard or small space. So long as that you can be present, allow your little ones more space to play, so they can choose an area that fits their current game or scheme. Sometimes kids like to play in the kitchen, or other times, their game might take place in the hallway. Wherever they want to play, there’s sure to be a reason behind it!
- Make the right toys available. You don’t need elaborate play sets or even the latest and greatest! Kids love toy cars, action figures, and dolls; they also love household items! Get creative, there’s endless ways to use items around the house every day! For instance, tissues make excellent “blankets” for a favorite pony or doll.
- Give real-life experiences. Many times, these real-life experiences will translate into a scenario for their pretend play. For example, let your kids help in the kitchen, and you might notice that suddenly their dolls or action figures are cooking.
- Resolve conflicts. When kids play together, this makes for a perfect learning opportunity when it comes to social skills. Help your child to resolve disagreements and to appropriately respond to peers or siblings during play.
As you can see, your child’s pretending accounts for some of the most crucial early childhood learning games. Thankfully, it’s easy to enrich your child’s imaginative play in a way that helps them build a foundation for more advanced cognitive and social skills in the future. Take the time to watch your child’s next foray into make-believe, and you’ll notice the magic happening right inside your living room!


ERIC Number: ED431634
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1999
Reference Count: N/A
Tlingit Moon & Tide Teaching Resource: Elementary Level.
This book brings Alaskan Native understanding of science and ecology to the elementary classroom by showing teachers how to present local and ecosystem knowledge held by long-time inhabitants of southeast Alaska. The goal is to increase the self-esteem of Native students who traditionally perform low in science and to introduce non-Native students to this type and value of knowledge. Following the introduction, three core chapters cover the moon, tide, and cycles of life. Each of these core chapters starts with the Tlingit words relevant to the chapter's contents. Chapter 1 lays the foundation for the curriculum's theme, and each chapter thereafter builds upon it. In addition, each chapter becomes more complex. The lessons can be used (or modified for use) at several grade levels, depending on student abilities and the school curriculum. (WRM)
Descriptors: Alaska Natives, Cultural Awareness, Ecology, Elementary Education, Environment, Ethnic Groups, Indigenous Populations, Moons, Multicultural Education, Science Activities, Science and Society, Space Sciences, World Views
University of Alaska Sea Grant, P.O. Box 755040, 203 O'Neill Bldg., Fairbanks, AK 99775-5040; Tel: 907-474-6707; Fax: 907-474-6285; Web site: http://www.uaf.edu/seagrant/ ($10).
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners; Teachers
Sponsor: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (DOC), Rockville, MD. National Sea Grant Program.
Authoring Institution: Alaska Univ., Fairbanks. Alaska Sea Grant Program.
Identifiers - Location: Alaska


A literacy coordinator is an educator with knowledge of reading instruction and second language acquisition. Literacy coordinators may work in elementary, middle, or high schools, or adult basic education programs. Though responsibilities vary depending on the setting, literacy coordinators often find themselves involved in the following activities.
Assess Literacy Skills
Literacy coordinators oversee initial student assessment for program placement as well as periodic progress evaluations.
Literacy coordinators make big-picture curriculum decisions and work to ensure continuity of reading instruction for students as they move through the levels in a program. They select or oversee selection of textbooks, software, and resources.
A literacy coordinator may observe lessons and give teachers feedback. They may provide workshops or make teachers aware of professional growth opportunities.
Recruit and Manage Volunteers
A literacy coordinator often recruits, trains, and manages volunteer tutors who work one-on-one or with small groups of students. Coordinators provide ongoing support to tutors so they too can refine their skills.
Support Early Literacy Development
If the program is for young children, literacy coordinators may provide parents with information and resources to help their children begin developing pre-reading skills such as concepts of print and phonological awareness. If the program is for adults, literacy coordinators can encourage students who have young children or grandchildren to apply their learning to help these children develop literacy skills from the earliest ages.


Simple Machines Games & Videos
Simple Machines Games & VideosThese science vocabulary activities, which focus on the six simple machines, are from the Simple Machines module in the Force and Motion unit in Physical Science, from Science4Us.com. Elementary students will have fun learning about screws, pulleys. levers, wedges, wheel and axles and inclined planes with these fun activities. Kids love playing science games online. Flash games make online science for kids easy to teach.Interest in and knowledge of simple machines increases as kids are encouraged to play educational science games. Kids become experts on every science subject in no time, thanks to cool online games. Elementary schools and middle schools are incorporating fun online games and science printable worksheets into their science curriculum as playing games, developing science vocabulary, learning songs and watching videos online provides the results teachers want for their students. And best of all, kids have fun while learning!


- We learn something every day, and lots of times it’s that what we learned the day before was wrong. Bill Vaughan
Go to the Crocker Art Museum
The first public art museum founded in the Western United States, the Crocker Art Museum was established in 1885 and is now one of the leading art museums in California. The Crocker serves as the primary regional resource for the study and appreciation of fine art. The Museum offers a diverse spectrum of special exhibitions and programs to complement its collections of Californian art, works on paper, European art, international ceramics, photography, Asian art, and African and Oceanic art. The Crocker Art Museum is the only museum in the Sacramento region accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), a recognition given to less than 800 of the nation's 17,500 museums. AAM accreditation certifies that a museum operates according to standards set forth by the museum profession, manages its collections responsibly, and provides quality service to the public.
Babson envisioned the home and gallery as an integrated complex, unique in design and built from the finest materials. The gallery building included a bowling alley, skating rink, and billiards room on the ground floor; a natural history museum and a library on the first floor; and gallery space on the second floor. Completed in 1872, the Crocker family mansion and art gallery are considered the masterpieces of Babson's career. The family mansion went through several uses and reconstructions until a 1989 renovation restored the historic façade and created a modern gallery interior. The original buildings, now connected, as well as the since-demolished Herold Wing addition of 1969, were renamed the Crocker Art Museum in 1978. The gallery building is a California Historical Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
TEEL FAMILY PAVILION
In 2000, the Crocker appointed a selection committee comprised of elected officials, community leaders, CAMA board members, city staff, and potential donors to search for an architect who would lead the Museum through master planning. After a comprehensive review of the world's major museum architects, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects (GSAA) was chosen to guide the process because of their design aesthetic and past experience. GSAA designed the expansion of the Crocker after conducting a thorough master planning process. Many voices from the community were involved in a collaborative process to ensure that the new building and the internal reconfiguration of the existing structures would work together as a whole. On October 10, 2010, the Crocker opened the 125,000-square-foot Teel Family Pavilion.
The expansion more than tripled the Museum's size, enhancing its ability to serve Sacramento and the region's many visitors. For the first time in the Museum's history, there are dedicated gallery spaces for all collecting areas. The expansion also enabled the dedication of the historic building's entire first floor as the Museum's Education Center, including four studios, space for student and community exhibitions, an expanded Gerald Hansen Library, the Art Education Resource Room, and Tot Land.


Art and Design Department
"The arts help all students to develop multiple capabilities for understanding and deciphering an image- and a symbol-laden world."
The secondary art and design program builds upon prior art knowledge and experience developed through study at Primary School levels. The aspects of perceiving, producing, knowing, communicating, evaluating, and connecting - provide broad, unifying structures for organising the knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire. Students build upon their cumulative knowledge and experience of art in order to grow in their ability to describe, interpret, evaluate, respond, and produce. They continue to use a wide range of subject matter, symbols, meaningful images, and visual expression. Students gain powerful tools for: understanding human experiences, both past and present; learning to adapt to and respect others’ (often very different) ways of thinking, working, and expressing themselves. They are exposed to participate in various Art competitions this year e.g. The Environmental Event held at the Movenpick, the Schools, Art Competition organised by Centrepoint and the International poster Competition for the ASSE.
Sequenced instruction enables students to develop and advance their understanding and application of visual art concepts and skills from intricate observational studies to interpretive designs.
Classroom work is composed of comprehensive and sequential experiences that promote and emphasize students' development of independent, creative and complex thinking. Instruction focuses on artistic inquiry, reflective thinking and problem-solving skills. Students learn vocabulary and concepts associated with various types of work in visual arts study.
They are empowered to think and reason in visual ways.It is designed to further enhance and develop their ability to reach goals and objectives and to reach their highest level of potential.Creative problem solving, critical thinking and a broad range of experiences build the foundation for deeper understanding, advanced learning, and innovation within the various media.Through visual arts courses, students learn to use art media, techniques and processes to communicate context, ideas and themes.They are expected to develop a broad and in-depth understanding of the meaning and impact of visual arts and the visual world in which they live.
“The arts are deeply embedded in our daily life, often so deeply or subtly that we are unaware of their presence.”
The Music department believes that Music is a unique form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. Music forms part of an individual’s identity and positive interaction with music can develop pupils’ competence as learners and increase their self-esteem. Music brings together intellect and feeling and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development. As an integral part of the culture, past and present, music helps pupils understand themselves, relate to others and develop their cultural understanding, forging important links between home, school and the wider world.
Music education encourages active involvement in different forms of music-making, both individual and communal, helping to develop a sense of group identity and togetherness. Music can influence pupils’ development in and out of school by fostering personal development and maturity, creating a sense of achievement and self-worth, and increasing pupils’ ability to work with others in a group context.
Music learning develops pupils’ critical skills: their ability to listen, to appreciate a wide variety of music, and to make judgements about musical quality. It also increases self-discipline, creativity, aesthetic sensitivity and fulfilment.
At Key Stage 3, students follow a comprehensive scheme of work based on the UK National Curriculum guidelines. The music classroom is stocked with electric keyboards, guitars and percussion instruments to enable students to compose and perform. Singing is also taught and students learn to listen to and appraise a variety of styles of music.
Outside the classroom, there are opportunities for developing musical skills in after-school clubs. Those who wish to perform can join the choir for special occasions and take part in the annual musical production. This academic year saw year 7 and 8 students give an excellent and lively performance of "Cinderella Rockerfella" Several informal music ensembles have also sprung up recently, with students using their break times to practice in the music room.
After year 9, students can choose music as an IGCSE option, to further develop their own skills and musical interests. Music at IGCSE level is a universally acknowledged sign of excellence which informs universities about students who have something extra to offer outside the normal academic requirements.


I often pondered how learning a musical instrument could create such a shared perception of musical incompetence or disability. It may have been the question andor the public context in which it was asked ("What's the next question?" "Will I have to perform in front of this lot?"), but discussion usually revealed a concept of "musicians" as a small minority of highly skilled performers.
I was reminded of this when I read the news reports of the latest research for the Royal Society of Arts undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research: Arts Education in Secondary Schools.
Schools still fall short of the standards set by the best. Too often, pupils see music as for an elite. My own experiences as a primary school teacher and university lecturer indicate that such a limited view is inappropriate.
It is extremely rare to meet a child who is "unmusical", given an appropriate task and supportive environment. The research bears this out: everyone is capable of musical behaviour. At one year old we have some musical preferences. By five, we enter school attuned to musical scales and sensitive to harmonic structures. In adolescence, our musical tastes change and gender differences become more perceptible. We are surrounded by music in our ives. But not all educational experiences develop our potential.
Despite the Government's wish for education to be a research and evidence-based profession, the research is not really reflected in the new national curriculum for music. The text of the programmes of study is much more focused on teaching content, as exemplified throughout by the wording "pupils should be taught how to...". The wonderful world of individual musical development is not explicit. Small wnder the links between research and everyday practice are difficult for the busy classroom practitioner.
Yet research evidence is available to assist teachers,. The UK has one of the most active and gifted research communities in music education in the world. For example, recent research has reported that:
* secondary school music often has low status and teachers feel undervalued.
Cox, G (1999). "Secondary School Music Teachers Talking" Music Education Research 1 (1), 37-45).Tailor amp; Francis Journals. Tel: 01256 813000. www.tandf.co.ukjournals * success is more likely if secondary pupils are encouraged to demonstrate their feelings about the music.
Mellor, L (1999). "Language and Music Teaching: the use of Personal Construct Theory to investigate teachers' responses to young people's music compositions" Music Education Research 1 (2), 147-158) * gender preferences for certain instruments (girls for piano, flute, violin; boys for trumpet, guitar and drums) can restrict instrument choice, but these can be countered if teachers provide appropriate models.
Harrison, A C amp; O'Neill, S A (2000). "Children's Gender-Typed Preferences for Musical Instruments: An Intervention Study." Psychology of Music 28 (1), 81-97. Journal of the Society for Research in the Psychology of Music and Music Education. www.srpmme.u-net.com. E-mail: K.Burland@sheffield.ac.uk. Fax: 0114 266 8053.
* teachers may be misled by pupils' performance errors into teaching strategies that ignore pupils' complex musical understanding.
Brand, E (2000). "Children's Mental Musical Organisations as Highlighted by Their Singing Errors." Psychology of Music 28 (1), 62-80.
* music often serves as a means of "mood management" with positive benefits being reported from diverse locations , including the special needs classroom.
Savan, A (1999)."The Effect of Background Music on Learning." Psychology of Music 27 (2), 138-146.
Professor Graham F Welch is chair of the Society for Research in the Psychology of Music and Music Education


Research from Michigan State University found that a child's ability to self-regulate is a critical element in childhood language and literacy development, and that the earlier they can hone these skills, the faster language and literacy skills develop leading to better skills in the long run.
A researcher at The University of Texas at San Antonio has co-authored a study examining important cognitive and non-cognitive predictors of entering science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields for Hispanic high school students.
When boys start school, they recognize fewer letters and their corresponding sounds than girls do. The difference is just as great at the end of the school year.
A new longitudinal study examined the likelihood of homeless youth of different races being harassed and arrested by police. The study found that nonwhite homeless youth are more likely than white homeless youth to report police harassment and arrest, but that elements of living on the street -- including increased visibility and prior experiences with harassment -- offset racial disparities.
Citizen science projects can engage even children who previously were not interested in science. This article provides guidance on building these lessons.
Now, a researcher at the University of Missouri has found that high school students taught by a string of teachers who majored or minored in a specific teaching subject, instead of a general teaching degree, are more likely to become college graduates.
A new study co-authored by researchers at Michigan State University and Case Western Reserve University found that 'growth mindset interventions,' or programs that teach students they can improve their intelligence with effort -- and therefore improve grades and test scores -- don't work for students in most circumstances.
Children as young as age three are able to make judgements about who owns an object based on its location, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.
Preschoolers can learn from educational television, but younger toddlers may learn more from interactive digital media (such as video chats and touchscreen mobile apps) than from TV and videos alone, which don't require them to interact. That's the conclusion of a new article in the journal Child Development Perspectives that also notes that not all children learn to the same degree from these media.
Studies have shown that for young people, simply being around peers from different ethnic and racial backgrounds may not be enough to improve attitudes toward other groups. Instead, children and adolescents also need to value spending time and forming relationships with peers from diverse groups. A new study examined how friends in middle school affect each other's attitudes about interacting with peers of different ethnicities and races, finding that they significantly influence each other's racial and ethnic views.


Early Childhood Education Today 13e PGE
George Morrison’s newest edition presents current, research-based information on providing high-quality early education to all children so that they can be successful in school and in life.
The new edition retains the engaging style that has made the book so popular and provides practical examples of authentic teaching practices used by master teachers. Its strong coverage of development in the age/grade-specific chapters and its emphasis on diversity make it a leading text in the field.
The new edition integrates 13 critical themes that are foundational to the field today: the importance of children’s literacy development, teaching in increasingly diverse classrooms, applying developmentally appropriate practice, closing the achievement gap, integrated special education and early childhood education services, teaching in inclusive classrooms, closing school readiness gaps, meeting the challenges of teacher accountability, integrating STEM subjects into the curriculum, providing for children’s mental health, using technology to support learners, developing as a professional, and guiding children’s behavior to promote personal responsibility.


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What is pediatric occupational therapy?
Pediatric occupational therapy increases a child’s independence at play, school and with daily living skills. It can increase a child’s ability to interact with others in a variety of environments by developing skills and adapting to the child’s abilities. The occupation of childhood is to develop the skills necessary to become functional and independent adults. These skills include:
• Sensory Integration
• Fine and gross motor skill development
• Communication skills
• Social interactions
How do I know if my child needs occupational therapy?
Here are some things that might indicate a need:
• weak hands and/or get tired easily while doing fine motor tasks
• difficulty with learning gross motor tasks such as riding a bike, skipping, or hopping
• overly sensitive or emotional to sensory stimulation including touch, textures, tastes, sound, and movement
• under responsive with decreased reactions to movement, touch, sound, or have unusually low emotional responses
• trouble with writing including pushing too hard or not hard enough, not being able to develop and maintain a good grasp on the pencil, and having trouble with size and spacing of their letters
• trouble learning how to dress themselves
• difficulty with coordinating the muscles that control their eyes for good vision
What is speech/language therapy?
Pediatric speech/language therapy increases specific speech and language skills, such as oral motor, speech intelligibility, phonological skills and fluency. It also adds auditory comprehension, expressive communication, social pragmatic skills and feeding/swallowing skills. Speech/language therapy can be one-on-one, small group or supported within your child’s classroom setting.
What kind of training do your therapists have?
All of the pediatric occupational therapists and speech and language therapists at Erin Anderson and Associates in Chicago hold either a bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited occupational therapy program and speech and language program. In addition, they have passed a national certification examination and hold an Illinois State license.
Additionally we encourage therapists to particpate in ongoing education. Some of the areas members of our team are trained in include: Sensory Integration therory and treatment, Theraputic Listening, deep tissue pressure /brushing protocal, Herzog Keyboard System, Michelle Garcia Winner Social Thinking Program.


With 1:1 computing initiatives occuring in school districts across the country, never before have students had such universal access to information. Pedagogical innovations like "blended learning" and "flipped instruction" are changing the way teachers and students interact and learn. Even schools are becoming virtual -- without physical buildings or classrooms. At the same time, millions of students cannot benefit fully from these innovations because they struggle with reading. Our national challenge is to close the gap for struggling readers at all levels, especially among those with disabilities.
Reading Challenges Students with Disabilitites
With each new grade level, literacy demands increase substantially -- texts become longer, sentence complexity increases, and content vocabulary begins to expand exponentially. For students with disabilities, these challenges are especially daunting.
In 2013, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that 91 percent of eighth-grade learners with disabilities performed at or below the basic reading level, with 60 percent performing below basic. Furthermore, students with learning disabilities read 3.4 grade levels below peers who are free of disabilities. By middle school, academic outcomes in multiple content areas are inexorably dependent upon students' ability to independently learn from text and express what they know through text.
Fortunately, help is on the way.
In an attempt to exploit technology that can help struggling readers, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Programs (OSEP) funded the Center on Emergent Technology, Disability and Middle School Reading. The goal of this Center is to leverage emergent technology in the service of reading comprehension, skill development and improved motivation for reading, so that whenever students are reading they will be able to practice and grow their skills through "just-right" reading challenges. The Center, led by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) in collaboration with Vanderbilt University, represents a large system of partnerships designed to leverage and connect the most current knowledge from the learning sciences about reading development in students with disabilities, best practices within education, and innovation at the leading edge of education technology.
The Center's work has focused on exploring how emerging technologies can be leveraged to:
- Accelerate reading skill development
- Enhance student motivation, engagement and self-efficacy related to literacy learning
- Improve efficiency in the use of educational resources (e.g., open educational resources that increase academic learning time via text)
Udio Will Help Struggling Middle-Grade Readers
The Center is researching and developing a technology-rich learning environment called "Udio" that will make it possible for schools to provide all students with appropriate literacy experiences as they read independently across the curriculum. The goals of Udio are simple:
- Foster a passionate interest and investment in reading for students who have traditionally been uninterested in, or disenfranchised by, traditional classroom literacy practices.
- Substantially improve the reading comprehension skills of middle school students who have experienced recurrent failure in the domain of reading.
Udio is a dynamic web of authentic, current and widely distributed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) reading environments.
Reading materials avaiable through Udio are contributed by a network of partners whose online content is already on the web and of high interest to struggling adolescent readers and their teachers. Current Udio partners who provide access to reading content include Scholastic, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the SERP Institute/Word Generation, the Poses Family Foundation/Story Share, Sports Illustrated for Kids, and Time Magazine for Kids. When completed, Udio will provide readers with:
- A space to explore content that provides students with access to hundreds, and eventually many thousands, of high-quality, high-interest articles
- A platform to read, discuss and collect media of interest that supports the use of reading comprehension strategies, provides substantive opportunities for active and social experiences of text, and provides access to UDL supports for just-right reading challenges (including access to text when word-level reading skill is low)
- A supported space to create and share projects that leverage writing in the service of reading comprehension skills development
- A dashboard and analytic system that supports students in developing an understanding of their interests and allows learners to track the volume and pace of their reading experiences in Udio
I believe that Udio will have a profound impact on millions of students with learning disabilities. All students will be allowed to use the tool. But most importantly, struggling readers will soon have access to many materials that are "tuned" to their specific strengths and weaknesses, effectively turning the web into a place where anyone can learn to comprehend text effectively. Stay tuned for more information about Udio by visiting www.cast.org.


Art for Primary School Curriculum
This collection contains art lesson plans and worksheets for primary schools.
Bubble art, learning about paint and colour(Marine Institute, 2013)Using paint and mixing colours students can develop an understanding of the theory of colour primary and secondary colours. The students will also develop techniques for creating texture using paint and bubbles – called bubble art.
Design and make an explorer's paper maché submarine(Marine Institute, 2013)Get inspiration from books, movies and lots of imagination from the students to learn how a submarine works. The students should consider the technology of the future and produce drawings of the submarine featuring the design plans for inside and outside the vessel. Once completed, the students are to create a paper maché of a Super Future Explorers Submarine. Each student should compose and present a short story about their submarine explaining how its future technology works.
Save the sea 3D poster(Marine Institute, 2013)The aim of the lesson plan is for students to develop drawings, paint and colour, as well as use fabric, fibre (including shells, seaweeds, flotsam and jetsam from the seashore) to create a 3D - poster showing how people can protect the marine environment and save the sea. This lesson plan should be delivered after the students have learned about the environment and the sea.


Mummy’s the word in this spell-”binding” issue, which unwraps the mysteries and marvels of mummies, for kids, starting with the most famous embalmers – the Egyptians – and investigating mummies in other cultures, as well as the complex process behind.
Do you know the story of the Brooklyn Bridge? This fun book for kids tells the tale featuring PT Barnum, a circus and 21 elephants. It also inspired this week's Engineering Science for Kids challenge - build a bridge to hold 21 elephants! A great STEM
This is a great introduction or lesson on water sources (streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans). This is a wonderful lesson for your first grade or second grade students! They will love it and it is quick and easy. No prep time for you besides printing the copies ant cutting out the cards if you use them! The kids create the whole water sources booklet!
Handprint Chick Puppets are a great Spring craft or Easter craft for kids. This chick craft looks super cute and kids can actually play with them too! Such a fun handprint craft to encourage dramatic play and story telling. Sponsored by HORMEL® Pepperoni
Totally cute and easy Bunny Nose Masks - so fun for Easter imaginative play. You and the kids can make these rabbit masks in minutes and they're super fun for popping into Easter baskets and sharing with friends. #Easter #EasterCrafts #Rabbit #bunny #EasterBunny #rabbitmasks #eastermasks #bunnymasks #masks #popsiclestickcrafts #springcrafts #kidscrafts #craftsforkids #kidscraftroom via @KidsCraftRoom


Upper Elementary & Middle School
Sterne Upper Elementary & Middle School lays a solid foundation for growth at a critical phase in the student’s development.
In the upper elementary & middle school, we work individually with each student to strengthen critical foundational skills in math and language arts as needed, while instilling the values of time management, step-by-step project management, and personal organization. The program is designed to prepare students for high school – academically, emotionally and socially.
Students are grouped according to academic needs, based on strengths and opportunities for growth in specific subjects. They may be grouped with different students for different subjects.
Sterne students develop fluency with computers and tablet technology. Assistive programs such as Dragon, ReadingPlus, Voice Dream Reader (coupled with Bookshare) are available and prescribed when we believe they would benefit a student’s learning style.
The academic program is rounded out with:
- Courses and after-school activities in visual, performing, musical and multi-media arts.
- Daily recess and physical education.
- Extensive clubs and after-school sport teams


Music is a unique form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. Music forms part of an individual's identity and positive interaction with music can develop pupils' competence as learners and increase their self-esteem. Music brings together intellect and feeling and enables personal expression, reflection and emotional development.
Music education encourages active involvement in different forms of music-making, both individual and communal, helping to develop a sense of group identity and togetherness. Music can influence pupils' development in and out of school by fostering personal development and maturity, creating a sense of achievement and self-worth, and increasing pupils' ability to work with others in a group context. It also increases self-discipline, creativity, aesthetic sensibility and fulfilment.


About BBC Ten Pieces
Ten Pieces is an exciting initiative for students aged between 7-14. The aim is to open up the world of classical music to a new generation of children and inspire them to develop their own creative responses to ten pieces of music. The project is backed by our Ambassadors and is delivered by our Champions. The Champions are an existing network of over 260 music education hubs, music services, orchestras, music, dance and arts organisations working across the age ranges who can offer help and advise working with the Ten Pieces.
You can access a wealth of online teaching resources which will help stimulate your students to respond creatively to the repertoire through composition, dance, art and performance poetry.
Lesson Plans - for Primary and Secondary
Music Arrangements - for orchestras and ensembles of different abilities
The Pieces and Composers - information and clips for the Ten Pieces I and II repertoire
Additional resources - resources for younger children, live lessons, ebook guide to the Orchestra
NEW FOR 2017
New free teaching resources for the next phase of the project, Ten Pieces III, will be released in September 2017 for use across the 2017/18 academic year. There will be exciting short films introducing a new set of inspiring classical pieces, plus accompanying classroom lesson plans for primary and secondary teachers to use, simplified downloadable arrangements for you to perform, and new ways for you to get involved with the project.
Can't wait to get your hands on Ten Pieces III material? You can download and listen to the Ten Pieces III music as MP3s for free now.
Here's how to get started with Ten Pieces III
- Register: Teachers and educators can join the BBC email mailing list and receive the latest news and essential project updates for Ten Pieces III.
- Read the FAQs below for more information about the project.
- Listen to the Ten Pieces III music and start thinking about getting creative!
- Get inspired – take a look at the creative response showcase and Ten Pieces Assembly showcase to see how schools across the UK have been inspired by the Ten Pieces music this year.
You can also explore resources from the first two years of the project:
- There are 20 pieces in total from Ten Pieces I and II - browse resources by piece and find composer information
- Two cinematic films were released – you can watch the Ten Pieces I and II films in full as celebrity-led film clips, or watch the orchestral performances. You can use the register form to order a free DVD box set of the Ten Pieces I and II films
- Each Ten Pieces I and II piece also has supporting downloadable resources - orchestral arrangements, lesson plans and MP3s


Before school boards established universal learning standards, individual publishers, through textbooks, would suggest specific knowledge to be taught to people at specific ages. In 1892 the National Education Association formed a committee of ten who codified the first learning standards for national high schools.¹
In 1893 a committee of fifteen formed to decide the standard number of years for elementary education and established the content to be taught.¹ At present, learning standards have become very important and are tied to rubrics and assessments in many schools. Standardized tests are often used for evaluation within states, and standardized exams are used nationally for college admission.
State learning standards are developed by state boards of education and enforced by state education agencies. Learning standards are further developed by individual school districts where they take the form of guidelines by grade of what a student should be able to do for their grade.¹
An example of a detailed learning standard would be the expectation of grade 8 students in English in the province of Ontario, Canada. By the end of grade 8, each student should be able to read and critically respond to a variety of texts using proper English grammar and spelling techniques.¹
Additionally, each student should be able to engage in classroom discussions about texts and respond to teacher-led discussions of the texts. Finally, each student should be able to write, edit, and deliver a three-minute speech about a topic that they find interesting.
Further, each of the expectations will have an explanation as to why it is important for the student in order to justify to teachers, parents, and the student why they are learning what they are learning.¹
1. Feldmmann, Doug (2005). Twenty-Five Years of erosion in the Curriculum: The Committee of Ten to the Cardinal Principles, 1893-1918. Research for Education Reform 10 (2): 41-50.
Image source:Wikimedia Commons


The library card, or more properly the borrower's identification card, is the ticket to a library's resources, as it is used to identify the bearer as a registered borrower and provides information, typically in the form of the bar code, for the loan record in the charging or circulation process.
Of course! And proudly! But that may change, as some libraries begin to accept a smart phone scan of the library card--and others have investigated using library cards for more than circulation control which would make the smart phone substitute highly valuable.
Many libraries offer library cards to very young children and even babies. In the early 1990s a number of libraries gave out packets of information about early literacy to new mothers. These packets often included applications for library cards. Library cards for the babies themselves came soon after. Libraries often issue the card in conjunction with early literacy development programs. The cards are designed to get parents to start thinking about developing their child's reading skills as early as possible--and to get them into the library!
See the links below for examples of libraries that offer these services.
We do not know, exactly. Statistical surveys collect a count of registered borrowers, but with qualifications. While many libraries require a renewal of one's credentials, people may also hold more than one library card--as suggested by the pictures of people holding more than one library card in the Flickr slide show, "Show Us Your Library Card." We do, however, use surveys to obtain an estimate that two-thirds (2/3) of Americans have library cards.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) statistics collects the number of "registered users," defined as "a library user who has applied for and received an identification number or card from the public library that has established conditions under which the user may borrow library materials or gain access to other library resources." But a note requires that the report should be for files that have been purged within the past three years.
The availability of a national library card remains a popular suggestion from library users and patrons year after year. However, neither ALA nor PLA (Public Library Association, a division of ALA) coordinates national public library service.
Due to the process by which public libraries are funded, the establishment of any national reciprocal borrowing privileges would be complex. Public libraries in the U.S. are set up under a local governance model, as the majority of funding for most public libraries comes from local taxes. On average, nationwide, local taxes are responsible for over 80% of public library funds, with 10% coming from state sources; federal interests contribute less than 1%. (Note that it is precisely because libraries are locally funded that many libraries charge a fee when providing library cards to persons not resident in the library district.)
Also, there is no mechanism set up by which the materials borrowed by “national” library users and patrons could be returned to their home institutions—which are presumably a state or more away--in a timely manner. Nor is there a mechanism to ensure that these materials would be returned. Creating such a multi-state secure mechanism that would protect and secure the varied collections of all of the libraries across the country from any misuse or abuse of a national borrowing system would pose a formidable challenge.
How widely a library card may be used also varies by jurisdiction. Over the years, public libraries have made great strides in resources sharing, through the development of inter-library lending procedures, cooperative partnerships, regional networks, and even some statewide networks. But a single all-state borrowing card and system would be difficult to develop, though there are successful statewide and extensive regional networks for reciprocal borrowing.


Art education is performing the ultimate 360 degree turnaround: leaving schools with lack of funds, finding its way into the streets of Philadelphia through the Mural Arts Program, and then inspiring schools to incorporate such a profound program into their curriculum. Why are schools so inspired by murals? Mural Art Program’s free art education programs annually serve nearly 2,000 at-risk youth at neighborhood sites throughout the city, utilizing an intensive curriculum that involves mural-making as a dynamic means to engage youth and to teach transferable life and job skills such as taking personal responsibility, teamwork, and creative problem-solving. Furthermore, the 20,000 total underserved and at-risk youth that have already participated in the Mural Program have an astounding 100% high school graduation rate.
The self-proclaimed “good graffiti” project began in 1984, connecting students, teachers, and artists in elaborate projects spanning thousands of murals throughout the city. A multitude of materials, techniques, and inspirations are showcased around Philadelphia. To sign up for a paid tour, which helps fund the program, and learn more click here.


The benefits of repetition are huge for little ones... it literally builds your child's brain! That's right, the aching knees you have from giving repeat horse-y rides, are actually creating neural pathways in the brain that result in learning! Your child's brain is wired to pick up patterns of sight, sound and movement through repetition! "Neighhhhhh!"
Fortunately, repetition is king at Gymboree Play & Music! Whether you're in a Play & Learn Level 1 class, exploring activities for infants or enjoying creative kids activities in Level 6, each time your child repeats a Gymboree activity, theme, song or story, she attends to new information and learns something new - a new word, concept or way to use her body and mind.
Early learning through repetition may have you anticpating "nap time" hours ahead of schedule, but rest assured (when you finally do get to rest) that this endless cycle is building your child's memory and confidence, contributing to motor skill development, expanding your child's understanding of the world and how it works, building a sense of trust that is critical to developing healthy relationships with others and helping your child feel good about himself, reminding him of what he CAN do!
Okay... that being said... "Peek-a-boo!" :)


Identity Texts and Literacy Development Among Preschool English Language Learners: Enhancing Learning Opportunities for Children at Risk for Learning Disabilities by Judith K. Bernhard, Jim Cummins, F. Isabel Campoy, Alma Flor Ada, Adam Winsler & Charles Bleiker — 2006There is little research on English language learners (ELLs) in relation to learning disability (LD) assessment and identification. More important, there is a scarcity of research on models and strategies that enhance learning opportunities and outcomes for ELLs prior to an LD diagnosis. We describe in this article an innovative language
intervention program involving the creation of bilingual, student self-authored identity texts. Called the Early Authors Program (EAP), the intervention stands as an example of how spaces and opportunities for literacy development among young ELLs can be created in a classroom instructional environment. The EAP, which reached
800 families, was evaluated using a combination of methods and instruments. The goal of the evaluation component was to collect data spanning one year from 325 randomly selected participating children in both control and experimental groups.
Among its several beneficial outcomes, the EAP had demonstrably positive effects on children’s language scores and appears to have strengthened their identities and fostered their self-esteem. Because a proportion of these students would be at risk for LD, we propose the implementation of programs of this type generally for ELL children, and especially for those considered likely to have future school-related difficulties.
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- Judith Bernhard
JUDITH BERNHARD directs the Early Childhood Studies program at Ryerson University. Her research is focused on the experiences of bilingual
children and their encounters with educational systems. An emphasis has been on educational innovations that move beyond universalistic assumptions about childhood and development. Publications include ‘‘Parent Involvement Reconsidered: A Latin American Parents’ Group Participates in Their Children’s Schooling’’; ‘‘Toward a 21st Century Developmental
Theory: Principles to Account for Diversity in Children’s Lives’’; and ‘‘Struggling to Preserve Home Language: The Experiences of Latino Students and Families in Canadian School Systems.’’
- Jim Cummins
University of Toronto/Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
JIM CUMMINS is Canada Research Chair in Language and Literacy Development in Multilingual Contexts at the University of Toronto and teaches in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). He has recently coauthored (with Kristin Brown and Dennis Sayers) Literacy, Technology, and Diversity: Teaching for Success in Changing
Times (Allyn & Bacon). His research has focused on the nature of language proficiency and second-language acquisition, with particular emphasis on
the social and educational barriers that limit academic success for culturally diverse students.
- F. Campoy
Transformative Education Services
F. ISABEL CAMPOY is president of Transformative Educational Services and a renowned international speaker on issues of language acquisition and
transformative education. She is coauthor of Authors in the Classroom: A Transformative Pedagogy Experience. In addition, she has written numerous children’s books in the areas of poetry, theater, stories, art, and nonfiction, and she has collaborated in many educational programs.
- Alma Ada
University of San Francisco
ALMA FLOR ADA is professor emeritus at the University of San Francisco. She speaks internationally on multicultural education, literacy, and critical pedagogy. She has collaborated in developing numerous textbooks and is the award-winning author of over 100 children’s books. She is the author of A Magical Encounter: Latino Children’s Literature in the Classroom and coauthor
of Authors in the Classroom: A Transformative Pedagogy Experience.
- Adam Winsler
George Mason University
ADAM WINSLER is associate professor of applied developmental psychology at George Mason University. The topics of his current research and
recent publications include the transition to school for low-income children attending various types of preschool programs, and private speech (selftalk)
as it relates to behavior control in typically developing children and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism.
- Charles Bleiker
Florida International University
CHARLES BLEIKER is associate professor of early childhood education at Florida International University. His research interests are school readiness, early literacy development, and early childhood systems. His is author of Early Childhood Settings and Approaches(Merrill/Prentice Hall, 2005).


Education policy geeks are perpetually trying to figure out how to move the needle on academic achievement, yet they rarely include parents in the complex calculus of getting children to succeed in school.
In many cases, teachers and school staff are just thankful that students have parents and intact families they can rely on. At least on this point, Latino students — who currently make up roughly 1 in 4 of all children in the United States — have a leg up.
A new data analysis from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children &Families has found that “most low-income Latino and white children lived in two-parent households at the beginning of kindergarten (69 percent and 62 percent, respectively), mainly with biological or adoptive parents.”
This is a particular bright spot for Hispanic kids who have few advantages to boast of, especially considering that nearly all recent social-science research has found that non-two-parent households are a major determinant of how well children will do in life.
However, the same report found that, though Latino children are in more supportive family environments, this doesn’t exactly translate into tangible gains.
The research found that lower-income Hispanic children’s parents had lower educational attainment levels than their white or black peers, which likely helps fuel achievement gaps that put Latino children behind their white and black classmates in reading, and behind their white peers in math. This disparity persisted into third grade.
It’s true that there are programs, in limited geographical locations and mostly in the pilot stage, aimed at providing young families with interventions to help low-income kids arrive at preschool closer to their classmates’ level in early literacy and numeracy skills.
The problem is that such programs are often too cost-prohibitive to make a dent in the academic performance of whole populations — and increased parental involvement in a child’s education is only one small aspect of what it takes to get families to be able to make a real difference.
Another important piece of the puzzle is perception.
Nine out of 10 parents “believe their child performs at or above grade level in math and reading,” according to a recent survey conducted by the nonprofit organization Learning Heroes. Unfortunately, data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that only about a third of students actually perform at grade level.
Meanwhile, 77 percent of parents surveyed by Learning Heroes believed “their children are getting a good education, and 66 percent say they are doing above-average academically,” even though this, also, is far too sunny an outlook.
And this attitude also tracks to other studies in which parents have said they believe that national public education is underperforming but their own local schools are doing a great job.
All of these data points are actually positive indicators of parents’ engagement and just go to show that even some of the most vulnerable families have real assets to pass on to their kids — not the least of which are stable homes, the valuing of education and positive attitudes toward both children’s potential and the efficacy of the system entrusted with educating their kids.
If we, as a nation, want to improve our students’ academic achievement, why aren’t we mining this precious resource?
If we could just commit to finding a way to harness all of parents’ positive energy in a way that could empower them to be their child’s first and most important teacher from birth — and then their most strident advocate when school starts — we could have an education revolution on our hands.
Contact Esther Cepeda at firstname.lastname@example.org.


Parenting Skills, and Techniques Accomplished by Goal setting, Educational resources and Strategies
Parenting is one of the most important roles an individual can undertake, and unfortunately one that offers the least amount of instruction. Our Parent Educator will offer individualized technical assistance and group training opportunities to families of young children as available. Technical assistance will be available to parents to help them develop individualized goals to enhance strengths in parenting and/or early literacy. The Parent Educator will work with families to help them develop strategies and make progress in reaching their goals.
Call or come by Smart Start of Pender County and allow the Parent Educator to introduce herself and assist you with a variety of services offered through our program. Our services are FREE to parents of young children in Pender County. Visit us Monday thru Thursday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Friday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Other times by appointment.
Did you know that the development of language and literacy skills begins at birth, and that children develop much of their capacity for learning in their first three years of life, when their brains grow to 90% of their eventual adult weight?
Early literacy does not mean early reading instruction or teaching babies to read. It is the natural development of skills through the enjoyment of books, the importance of positive interactions between babies and parents, and the critical role of literacy-rich experiences. Literacy development begins at birth and is closely linked to a baby’s earliest experiences with books and stories. Babies learn language through social literacy experiences by parents interacting with them by using books. These experiences also serve to associate books with parental affection, attention and approval.
By parents reading to their babies and by becoming regular library users themselves, parents help their babies develop language skills that will start them on the path to success in reading and learning.
Ready Readers encourages the parents of young children to recognize the important role they play in the literacy development of their children. Parents are eligible for a free 6-month lending library membership if they obtain a library card for their children ages birth to 5, bring it to the agency and complete a lending library application.
Here are ten important steps to remember in raising a reader and a writer.
- Talk, sing & play with your child
- Make time to read together each day
- Choose books with care
- Surround your child with reading material
- Slow down and have fun
- Read it again and again
- Foster your child’s awareness of print and how we use it
- Provide a variety of writing tools and materials
- Don’t push or pressure children about what or when to read
- Show children that you value their efforts
According to the National Institute for Family Literacy a study of 3 to 5 year olds who had been read to at least 3 times per week found the children to be:
- 2 times more likely to recognize all letters
- 2 times more likely to have word-sight recognition
- 2 times more likely to understand words in context
Raising a Reader
Raising A Reader (RAR) works through early care classrooms in eligible child care facilities, to introduce the “read aloud” and “book cuddling” experience to families in a natural and fun way that will encourage families to take an active role in the literacy develop of their young children. The program helps families with young children establish a regular practice of library usage and “read aloud” techniques by rotating a set of bright red book bags filled with award-winning children’s books into the homes of families of young children on a weekly basis throughout the year.
RAR Coordinators train early childhood professionals (Program Implementers) in interactive “read aloud” techniques that stimulate early brain development and language acquisition. These professionals then train participating parents. RAR issues a special Blue Library Book Bag to each child in the program, generally in coordination with local libraries at the end of the school year. While children have to return the red book bags and books each week, the blue bags are theirs to keep.


UNICEF is fully committed to working with the Government of India to ensure that each child born in this vast and complex country gets the best start in life, thrives and develops to his or her full potential.
The organisation began its work in India in 1949 with three staff members and established an office in Delhi three years later. Currently, it advocates for the rights of India’s children in 16 states.
India is home to the largest number of children in the world with nearly 40 per cent of its estimated 1.2 billion population under the age of 18. The gross domestic product (GDP) in India has grown at a decent average over the last five years. However, the economic growth has not yielded commensurate results in the reduction of poverty and disparity.
About 1 in 3 child lives in poverty and close to 53 per cent of adolescent girls and 30 per cent of adolescent boys are anemic. More than 6 million children aged 6-14 years drop out before they complete the full eight year elementary education cycle. While 1 in 4 women was married before the age of 18 and 10.1 million are engaged in child labour.
UNICEF’s goal is to advance the rights of children, adolescents and women to survival, growth, development, participation and protection by reducing inequities based on caste, ethnicity, gender, poverty, region or religion.
UNICEF utilises a multi-pronged approach to addressing pressing issues of health, nutrition, sanitation, education and child protection. It aims to involve families and community members in understanding their contribution to ensure their children thrive while providing a platform for young community champions to emerge and inspire.
UNICEF uses community level knowledge and quality research to comprehend issues, create and introduce easily implementable innovative interventions that address the situation of children, and works with partners to create ground level change.
Read about UNICEF's history in India...


ERIC Number: ED103233
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1972
Reference Count: N/A
Brine Shrimp and Their Habitat, An Environmental Investigation.
National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC.; Minnesota Environmental Sciences Foundation, Inc., Minneapolis.
This environmental unit is one of a series designed for integration within the existing curriculum. The unit is self-contained and students are encouraged to work at their own speed. The philosophy of the unit is based on an experience-oriented process that encourages independent student work. This unit explores the life cycle of brine shrimp and the effects of the environment on that cycle. The unit contains a series of related activities that illustrate basic ecological principles of interrelationships. Teacher information such as materials needed, background information, and additional topics is given. The unit is designed for students, grades 1-5. More sophisticated investigations are given at the end of the unit. A bibliography is included. (MA)
Descriptors: Elementary Education, Elementary School Science, Environmental Education, Instructional Materials, Investigations, Learning Activities, Natural Resources, Science Activities, Science Education
National Wildlife Federation, 1412 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (Order No. 79169, $1.50)
Publication Type: Guides - General
Education Level: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC.; Minnesota Environmental Sciences Foundation, Inc., Minneapolis.


7 Things to Know Before Signing Your Kids up for Piano Lessons
As a parent of two little ones, I often catch myself observing their interests and activities, trying to figure out what potential talents they have, then finding ways to foster and grow those talents. Have you watched your child play around with music and wonder if he/she is a budding Mozart? You may start to wonder, when should they start lessons? Where? With whom? How much will this all cost? As a piano teacher, I encounter many of these questions. Here’s a quick guide to help you determine the next step you should take with your child and piano lessons.
1. When Should I Sign up My Child for Piano Lessons?
There is no one age that applies to all children. It really depends on each individual and their development. One child may be ready sooner than another child. Instead of focusing on a number, answer these questions first:
2. Does Your Child Know the Difference Between the Left and Right Hands?
A huge part of playing the piano relies on knowing the right hand from the left, and eventually the child will have to perform two different actions with his or her hands. Knowing the difference is essential when beginning piano lessons.
3. Are Your Child's Fingers Ready?
A child will have to learn how to press down piano keys individually with his or her fingers. If children are too young, their hands may not be big enough and their fingers may not be physically developed to play individual piano keys with proper form.
4. Can Your Child Sit Still for Longer Segments of Time and Follow Simple Directions?
Piano lessons consist mostly of the child sitting at a bench and listening to instructions given by the teacher. If the child is high-energy or has a shorter attention span, the resourceful teacher should find ways to keep the child engaged with “off the bench” games and activities that reinforce the concepts being taught. But even then, the child should be able to sit at the bench for longer chunks of time.
5. Is My Child Ready to Develop the Discipline of Practicing on a Daily Basis? Am I Ready and Able to Provide Support and Guidance During This Time?
One of the greatest benefits of piano lessons is the potential for the child to develop discipline habits. However, discipline doesn’t just happen. It needs to be encouraged and cultivated with the help of an adult. While a few children are self-motivated and are able to practice without prompting, young children starting lessons need to have an adult sitting with them while they learn how to practice.
6. My Child Is Ready for Piano Lessons. What Should I Look for in a Teacher?
Find a teacher who has classical training. This doesn’t necessarily apply to all instruments, but learning piano definitely requires a teacher who has received classical training.
Find a teacher who is flexible in his/her approach with each student. An experienced teacher should recognize that each student will have different learning styles, personality types, and music preferences, and that teacher should plan the music lessons accordingly.
Find a teacher who offers rates that are comparable to the other teachers in the area. If they are under-charging, be aware that you may “get what you pay for” and your child may not receive a quality music education.
Find a teacher who is actively involved with music in the community and/or continuing education for the profession. Teachers who make an effort to improve their skills as musicians and teachers indicate they are devoted to the goal of being the best teachers they can be.
7. What Kind of Piano Do We Need?
The best you can afford. You are making an investment in your child’s music education. No child wants to practice on a low-quality instrument. The ideal piano that I recommend for a beginning piano student is a full-size (88 keys) acoustic piano or digital keyboard with weighted keys. Weighted keys help children develop the muscles in their arms, hands, and fingers to develop good form and good technique. If you purchase an acoustic piano, make sure you get it tuned on a regular basis.
Marcy Wankerl is the lesson program director at Morgan Music in Eau Claire (morganmusiconline.com). She has taught piano and music for 10 years, is an active member of the Chippewa Valley Music Teachers Association, and has a passion for instilling the love of music in her students. She is also the mom of two hilarious and adorable girls with a little boy on the way.


Early Years Overview
Welcome to The Bridge International School Early Years. We look forward to providing a year filled with exciting and rewarding experiences to all our early years’ family. We hope the information provided in this website will help you gain an understanding and appreciation of your child's early year’s experiences. The aim of early years is to provide a basic foundation for your child's education and to make each child's first experience with school a successful and happy one. As teachers and parents we must remember, and keep in mind, that a positive self-image is the main ingredient to a child's success. It is our job as parents and teachers to make this priority. As I look forward to nurturing and molding these little ones, I am reminded of something I heard a longtime ago. Knowledge enters the mind gradually, almost unconsciously. It is the teacher’s job to plant it like a seed, tend to it with encouragement and love, and nurture it while it grows and blooms. I believe teachers, specialists, and support staff in our school provides such an atmosphere for all our students to grow and bloom.
In the Early Years Foundation Stage, when pupils are in the Pre-Nursery to Reception classes, there are seven areas of learning and development:
- Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment, to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves, to speak and listen in a range of situations.
- Physical Education involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive, to develop their coordination, control and movement, to understand the importance of physical activity and make healthy choices in relation to food.
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves and others, to form positive relationships and develop respect for others, to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings, to understand appropriate behaviour in groups and have confidence in their own abilities.
- Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters to foster reading and writing.
- Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition - subtraction problems, describing shapes, spaces and measures.
- Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
- Expressive Arts and Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, movement, role play, design and technology.
Welcome to our school! We know we will enjoy being here as a family and working towards achieving the best.


Ongoing Literacy for Families of Children with Visual Impairments
History of Microsite
In the fall of 2003 the Visually Impaired Preschool at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind offered an 8-week literacy class for families of young children who are potential braille readers. This course was the starting point for the development of this web site. Dr. L. Penny Rosenblum and Mrs. Susan Greer wrote an article about the Dots for Families class.
This web site was originally designed by L. Penny Rosenblum, Ph.D., University of Arizona, and Linda Reed, M.Ed., Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Parent Outreach Program for the Visually Impaired for family members, teachers of children with visual impairments, and others interested in promoting literacy opportunities for young children with visual impairments. This was originally a project of the Parent Outreach Program for the Visually Impaired of the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB), a participating agency in IDEA, Part C, through the Arizona Department of Economic Security / Arizona Early Intervention Program (DES/AzEIP).
We would like to thank the ASDB Parent Outreach Program for the Visually Impaired: Susan Greer, M.Ed., Supervisor, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Linda Reed, M.Ed., Outreach Coordinator, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Vicki Numkena, M.Ed., Preschool Teacher, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, and Sandlyn Miller, M.Ed., Preschool Teacher, Teacher of the Visually Impaired. Thank you for the encouragement and support to Doris Senor Woltman, Superintendent, Arizona Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and a special thank you to Pam de Steiguer, M.A., who helped with the site design and preparation of materials.
The Dots for Families microsite was moved from the University of Arizona to Paths to Literacy in July 2013.
Please follow the links on the left side of this page under "Dots for Families" to explore our web site. There are lessons to assist you in learning to read and write the braille code in addition to information to promote your child's literacy development. Note every page appears in the left sidebar menu, so we invite you to click on all of the links to find what is here!
It's never too early for books. This toddler's family makes reading a part of their daily routine. (Book shown is from the On the Way to Literacy series from the American Printing House for the Blind. For more information or to order, go to www.aph.org, click Shop and put this catalog number in the Search space: 6-77500-00.


Myths About Black
If you spread out a pile of confetti, the first thing a child is attracted to is the bright color. From a physiological and visual structure viewpoint, the development of vision in infants will be difficult. Without sufficient color education to form cognitive coordination of the middle color or tertiary colors and stimulate the sustainable development of vision training, a child will remain only capable of identifying with and using these so-called "bold" colors, and as a result, lack an understanding of color beauty even into old age. Like eating only McDonald's fast food, one will never experience using refined tastebuds to appreciate Chinese cuisine.
But when children use gray or black colors, we tend to have a very stubborn conceptual stereotype of the child as a repressed, unhappy, or injured mind. To us, black seems to be paralleled with a depressed negative personality. Because adults have this conception, children from as early as kindergarten bring back drawings and paintings from school that are often colorful, with almost all the colors used, indicating to us that the child's psychological development is healthy and normal. A typical adult that believes this specious idea about color is often a result of the education process. When basic cognitive color ability has not developed and basic ideas are not established, there will be some baseless assertions on the value of color. The errors of adults, originating from unvetted concepts, deeply affect the Enlightenment and development of art education. Analyzing works in Taiwanese art contests, one can see that the winners are none other than the ever-popular "bold and lively" ─ works with bright and contrasting colors.
Black is not a scourge; let children know the magic of using the color black. Doing so will result in an effect much like adding some salt when cooking vegetables; it softens raw ingredients. Using black in art can unite colors with each other, reduce the intensity of color contrast, and train our visual tastes to have tranquil, harmonious, and graceful tones.


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Intro to DNA
Everything you ever wanted to know about:
and welcome to the DNA portion of the MicroB
iologyGuide website. This is an informative website dedicated to providing you, the user, with an in depth look at the characteristics (chemical and behavioural) of the DNA molecule. Listed below is a list of sections within the 'Introduction to DNA'. This menu section is intended to provide a brief synopsis of what DNA is made of, and what it really does. For more advanced functions, please see 'Chemical Structure' and 'Biological Function' listed in the menu above. For even more advanced theory, please see the 'Advanced Theory' section above. Thank you for visiting this site.
What is DNA and what does it do?
What are the main roles of this particular molecule?
What exactly (chemically speaking) is DNA made of?
How does DNA carry out its main roles?
Introduction to DNA - Books on Sale and More
Description : The work of geneticists who have labored for years to map human DNA is the subject of this offbeat yet highly informative documentary from the PBS series Nova. Host Robert Krulwich, a correspondent for ABC Nightline, visits with scientists who explain, in terms understandable to laymen, the enormous challenges faced and overcome by scientists working on the Human Genome Project.
Keywords : Cracking The Code Of Life (2001) - Dna Dvd, Nova, Robert Krulwich
Read Cracking the Code of Life (2001) - DNA DVD reviews.
Price : $14.99 USD
Description : What makes DNA different from hordes of competitors purporting to help readers understand genetics is that it is written by none other than James Watson, of Watson and Crick fame. He and his co-author Andrew Berry have produced a clear and easygoing history of genetics, from Mendel through genome sequencing. Watson offers readers a sense of immediacy, a behind-the scenes familiarity with some of the most exciting developments in modern science.
Keywords : Dna (paperback), James Watson, Dna Book, Learn Dna Reading, Read, Library, Study, Research, Resources
Read DNA (Paperback) reviews.
Price : $15.9 USD
Description : DNA ScienceWiz Science Kit teaches kids about the uniqueness of DNA and molecular biology in a fun way. Kids will learn about the basic building blocks of life, extract DNA from fruits, play the gene construction game, probe and spool real DNA, build a double helix, and more.
Keywords : Science Wiz Dna Kit, Dna Science For Kids, Kids Dna Science Kit
Read Science Wiz DNA Kit reviews.
Price : $19.99 USD
Description : Computational Studies of RNA and DNA includes, in an integrated way, modern computational studies of nucleic acids, ranging from advanced electronic structure quantum chemical calculations through explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations up to mesoscopic modelling, with the main focus given to the MD field.
Keywords : Computational Studies Of Rna And Dna, Jiri Sponer And Filip Lankas, Advanced Electronic Structure
Read Computational studies of RNA and DNA reviews.
Price : $259 USD
Paternity Mouse Dna Protein Biology Forensic Dna Gels Dna Techniques Pcr Mrna Paternity Testing Rna Polymerase Dna Protein Synthesis Rnase Dna Sds Page Membrane Genetic Agarose Forensic Science Dna Laboratory Molecular Weight Agarose Gel Purification Dna Mechanism Genes Forensics


Metamorphabet is a great 21st-century version of those traditional "A is for apple, B is for ball…" classroom posters. The fun in this app is the direct interaction kids have with each letter, so let kids play on their own. But there's plenty of room for teacher input to deepen learning and make the experience more meaningful for kids. It can be used to introduce letters to little ones just starting to think about how letters make words. For them, the connection between the letter and its words may not be clear. Emphasize this relationship by talking about what sounds the letter makes and how it fits into each word shown in the animations.
You can also use Metamorphabet with older kids who have a better grasp on how letters work. They will more readily understand why "march, monster, and mouth" appear with the letter M. They may enjoy learning some new words like amble or orbit. Ask them if they came across any words they hadn't heard before and see if they can guess the meaning from the animation.Continue reading Show less
Metamorphabet takes kids on an enchanting journey to discover the letters of the alphabet. Letters magically transform into animations representing words that begin with the target letter. One by one, in alphabetical order, kids tap and drag to move along in the journey. Kids tap the flat M to hear its name and see it pop out into 3-D; they can move its "legs" and it starts to march; when they tap again, it becomes a monster; a final tap on the monster's mouth will zoom in. With each new animation, kids see and hear the word being represented. After discovering all the transformations available for a letter, kids can tap the star to move on, or they can tap the menu to go backwards and choose a letter that's already been "unlocked."
Many apps out there present letters and show objects and actions that start with that letter. However, with stunning, quirky graphics, mesmerizing animations, and silly interactions, Metamorphabet covers really basic material in way that will captivate kids as well as grown-ups. Kids will love the interactive elements, and play is super-easy free exploration. Kids start with the letter A and cannot choose letters at random (though they can go back to choose letters they've already done). This makes the game feel like a purposeful journey through a magical world of letters rather than an aimless and scattered game.
That said, some of the word choices could be better. Some meanings are ambiguous or hard to decipher, such as amble or daydream. Others don't match well with the letter, like knight, which starts with the letter K but sounds like it starts with the letter N. This may prove confusing for younger kids. It's unclear how much kids -- especially younger ones -- will actually understand the connection between the target letter and the words. It would also be nice to see a list of the words introduced. Overall, Metamorphabet is a magical way for kids to get excited about interacting with letters.
Key Standards Supported
Reading Foundational Skills
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.


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In the Kindergarten room we are exploring and discovering every day, preparing for a life long journey of learning. We operate a QLD Government approved Kindergarten program run by a Bachelor Qualified Early Childhood Teacher. The program requires children to attend for a minimum 2 days per week to ensure your child meets the 15 hours of care.
We strive to make your child’s time with us both educational and fun. Our Educators strike a balance between child initiated and teacher led activities. These activities focus around your child’s interest and the natural environment around them.
Our main aim in this room is to assist your child to be ready to enter a new school environment. Through our program your child will gain a variety of literacy and numeracy skills, identification of simple numbers and shapes, recognitions skills such as identifying their belongings as well as developing their communications skills.
The developmental theorist we have chosen to implement within our teaching and environment is the Reggio Emilia Approach. The reason why is because we believe what it is based upon.
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principles:
• Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
• Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing;
• Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that children must be allowed to explore and
• Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
The Reggio Emilia approach to teaching young children puts the natural development of children as well as the close relationships that they share with their environment at the centre of its philosophy.
Another important part of the Reggio Emilia approach is that parents are a vital component to the Reggio Emilia philosophy. Parents are viewed as partners, collaborators and advocates for their children. As Educators we respect parents as each childs first teacher and involve parents in every aspect of the curriculum and for our planning.
In the Reggio approach, the Educator is considered a co-learner and collaborator with the child and not just an instructor. Teachers are encouraged to facilitate the child’s learning by planning activities and lessons based on the child’s interests, asking questions to further understanding, and actively engaging in the activities alongside the child, instead of sitting back and observing the child learning. “As partner to the child, the teacher is inside the learning situation” (Hewett, 2001).
While working on projects with the child, the teacher can also expand the child’s learning by collecting data such as photographs, notes, videos, and conversations that can be reviewed at a later time. The teacher needs to maintain an active, mutual participation in the activity to help ensure that the child is clearly understanding what is being “taught”.
The organization of the physical environment is crucial to Reggio Emilia’s early childhood program, and is often referred to as the child’s “third teacher”. Major aims in the planning of new spaces and the remodelling of old ones include the integration of each classroom with the rest of the school, and the school with the surrounding community. The importance of the environment lies in the belief that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support “complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the world of experience, ideas and the many ways of expressing ideas.” Therefore learning centres are rich in materials provided as well as being aesthetically pleasing in the set up and attract the child to that area. The learning centres have a variety of materials for children to choose from and expand on learning that can be facilitated by the educator. The learning centres are also set up based upon the child’s interest and are suited to developmental areas.


January 15, 2016
Leveraging ESSA funding to help more students read
This article was originally published in Huffington Post.
At the close of last year Congress took an important step forward in addressing the future of American education by passing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This accomplishment is a good, and necessary, step towards supporting our students with the best tools possible to ensure their success in school and prepare them for college and the workforce, but there is more work to do to maximize the impact of this investment.
Our educational policies must match the challenges facing our children. As the 2015 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showed us, only 36 percent of America’s fourth graders are reading at grade-level. That means that 64 percent of students in one of the most important and formative years of their lives aren’t equipped with the building blocks necessary to understand the words on the pages in front of them in their assignments, or the concepts their teachers are putting on the white boards in the classroom.
The LEARN Act contained in ESSA takes on literacy education to the tune of $190 million in money for states to receive for fiscal year 2016. The money, Congress says, needs to be split by states receiving federal money:
- 40 percent for students in K-5
- 40 percent for students in grades 6-12
- 15 percent for students from birth through kindergarten
- 5 percent for the state government for assessments and technical assistance
Reading is the cornerstone of all learning. Students who are able to master the fundamentals of reading in the critical years between kindergarten and the fourth grade are better equipped to progress in their studies and succeed in all subjects: science, math, social studies, and the arts.
Given what we know about the importance of mastering reading early, Congress, the administration, and the Department of Education should take heed of two considerations to strengthen ESSA.
First, we need to be spending a higher percentage of the money on K-5. These years are critical to the education of our kids and doubling down on providing struggling readers with the resources and support they need during this time is in line with what educators know to be most effective. Spending more money on the K-5 years will yield gains in reading and strengthen the foundational skills necessary for students to go on to master other studies.
Next, to ensure our students are getting the best possible product, we should mandate that state leaders require literacy programs to compete for ESSA funds. Fostering rigorous competition for federal grant money slated to be given to programs to improve literacy will ensure that only the best evidence-based, empirically-driven programs actually reach implementation. Competition is healthy and will result in better programs for our classrooms and better results for our students.
LEARN will open the door for many community based programs to help struggling readers and support educators. However, if we are to address the literacy crisis in this country in a meaningful way, we need to be making very real investments in quality K-5 programming designed to give struggling readers the support they need at the time when they need it the most.