Much is written about the future of education and one sure prediction is that much more will be written in the future. While some ideas urge us to pull back from technology and information – to embrace nature, ‘creativity’ ad humanities, most that’s written is about the technological developments in society.
Many of the focal issues are ‘practical’. What jobs will there be, what skills will be needed in the future? In some ways the situation is analogous to the industrial revolution which required literacy and numeracy skills among a large number of workers; these became first the new lower middle class of administrators, and the working class clerical workers. When production required more than literacy and numeracy, specialist engineering, scientific and other skills developed. In Victorian times, though, a humanist theme of education for its own sake as developing the ‘whole person’ brought to the curriculum music, art, literature, history the wider humanities. Nor was this an imposed curriculum from loftier folk: working class self-education and mutual education included not only skills acquisition but prized the broad human development learning and sharing. Literacy, for instance, was not only a means to better oneself financially, but offered a portal into literature, history, political debate and more.
The situation today is different There has been a sea change in educational culture and policy, and the way that most people perhaps tend now to see education in utilitarian terms, a means to an end. Humanities generally are much less prominent in discussion about education. Sociology and Psychology are discussed but with a positivist perspective.
‘Digital media education’ will usually refer to skills-getting for flexible employment in current and new sectors. ‘Digital psychology’ is a new concept which refers to marketing. Business and marketing futures are at the broad centre of discussion of digital futures. Digital takeover of agriculture, engineering, transportation, logistics and everything else entails digital-relevant training. The UK’s largest export sector by far is financial services, now of course impossible to imagine without their digital medium. Entertainment, culture generally, music, the written word – all and more are increasingly ‘digital’.
There is a passionate and widespread enthusiasm for all things digital. This is, perhaps not coincidentally, paralleled with a near mania for all things ‘neuro’. Since digital technology now allows for non-organic interaction with biological neurons, not surprisingly the prospect of cyborgs or a breed of homo digitalis seems something more than science fiction. With the massive acceleration of computer power, and the interconnectivity of all things digital, by 2050 or sooner human beings will be either literally or via extension connected with a vast global information ‘brain’ – not just specialised in one thing, but more akin to the parallel processing of the biological brain.
There can be no surprise that the future of education debates focuses so much on digital technology as an ‘aid’ to learning – but this is a far cry from overhead projectors. These ‘aids’ it is currently proposed may replace the need for human teachers altogether. It will (as it is now to a relatively limited extent) be possible to dispense with learning institutions’ brick and mortar completely.
While all of this may come to pass or not, it’s worth thinking more deeply and generally about the human requirements from education. This has never been resolved which is why theory after theory of education has followed from Socrates onwards. We do need to guard against being swept along and reacting only as things come along. It’s not clear that enough is being done to think about the future. Such thinking is largely speculative and can easily turn to fantasies based on utopias or dystopias. Yet it has to be said that given striking contemporary failings in education which from the hindsight of the future may appear somewhat risible, the education of a five years old who will be 20 in 15 years time needs to take the future very much into account: we should at least try to think ahead in ten or fifteen years periods.
Finally, it is doubtful whether education has ever taken seriously a commitment to prepare people for citizenship, to act as political citizens within the structures of power. The political processes are witnessing change just now through social media etc but this is superficial. The challenge for democracy is to produce citizens who have some understanding of how power is distributed in society and the world. This power will increasingly be found in Digitalia and not transparently so. Digital media education should be about more than teaching digital skills. It should be essentially about understanding digital media.


The Engineering is Elementary (EIE) program allows teachers, especially elementary teachers, to facilitate accurate, high quality, scientific learning to students of all ages. It builds capacity in teachers and students to effectively utilize the engineering design process, and become independent and collaborative learners.
At Manor Hall, engineering starts in Kindergarten. We utilize the Engineering is Elementary curriculum in grades K-6 to expose kids to this important educational focus. The EIE curriculum was created by the Boston Museum of Science and allows students to develop the foundational skills of engineering at a very young age.
In the world today, most students don’t study engineering until they get to college—if ever. But introducing children to engineering at a much younger age—as early as elementary school—makes sense. Children are naturally fascinated with building things, not to mention taking things apart to see how they work! Solving engineering design challenges involves highly effective learning strategies, including project-based and hands-on learning.
By learning the engineering design process, children build their problem-solving skills—skills that transfer to other disciplines, including math and science. And today’s society is increasingly dependent on advanced technologies, a reality that makes engineering and technological literacy essential 21st-century skills for all Americans. Despite the critical need to develop STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) literacy in all students, the number of American high school and college students who take courses in STEM subjects (and who go on to careers in STEM fields) is small, and it’s also declining.
The Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curriculum has been expressly designed to address this critical need by increasing children’s STEM literacy. Inquiry-based and standards-driven, EiE teaches engineering content and skills, links engineering to the science and math students are already learning, and helps children develop positive associations with engineering and science—to see them as being integral to modern life, and also as potential career paths. The Engineering is Elementary project is based at the Museum of Science, Boston—the nation’s only science museum with a comprehensive strategy and infrastructure to foster engineering and technological literacy in both science museums and schools. Launched in 2003 with support from the National Science Foundation, EiE is also supported by numerous foundations and corporations.


Children in the early elementary school years need a solid understanding of number operations, geometry, and measurement, according to the Committee on Early Childhood Mathematics and the National Research Council. Of these foundational skills, awareness of number sense has received focus from the committee as most significant, requiring competent teaching along with time and practice in order to help children develop comfort and fluency in mathematics.
Numbers help people make sense of the world, and the awareness of one-to-one correspondence and assignment of names to quantities are among the first complex concepts mastered by very young children. Counting in the base ten system, comparing quantities of more or less, and adding and taking away amounts can be thought of in the broader context as “number sense." This is the premier skill that should receive emphasis in the early elementary school years as all other principals of mathematical understanding rely on a solid mastery of basic number sense.
The ability to think about two- and three-dimensional shapes in space should be a fundamental part of early elementary school math programs. Working in a concrete way to represent abstract concepts of shapes also lays a crucial base for later work with fractions, area and volume. Learning the names and analyzing the properties of shapes, both flat and dimensional, should occur in the curriculum as early as kindergarten when children are taught to distinguish between shapes and combine them in order to form new ones.
Math educator Marilyn Burns asserts that mastering measurement in the elementary school curriculum is important because it is such a commonly encountered and frequently used skill. Children who are able to explore the world with the methods and tools needed to solve concrete problems deepen their knowledge of what it means to measure. Understanding values of length, size, weight and volume help children make appropriate decisions when working with mathematical situations that require use of standard measurements.
Common Core State Standards
The Common Core Standards for mathematics incorporate the findings of the National Research Council in specific domains, with particular focus on number operations, measurement and geometry in kindergarten through the fifth grade. These standards clearly convey what is expected of children in school mathematics programs in the forty-five states that have currently adopted the foundational standards for math education. The Common Core Initiative has aligned these standards in order for students nationwide to make progress each year and become college and workforce ready.
- Polka Dot/Polka Dot/Getty Images


Frilled Lizards – The Lizards With Most Creative Protections
Most animals have some way to protect themselves against enemies. The frilled lizard has one of the most creative protections. This little lizard opens up a frill around its neck to make it look big and scary. It might open its mouth and hiss. But if these tactics don’t work, the lizard turns tail and runs to the safety of a tree.
Frilled lizards live in Australia. Even the largest lizards are less than 3 feet long and weigh about 1 pound. Frilled lizards eat insects and small animals. They spend most of their time in the trees, where they’re safe.
Fun Facts about Frilled Lizards for Kids
- The frilled lizard is sometimes called the bicycle lizard. This is because it runs on its hind legs when it is scared.
- Most frilled lizards are less than 12 inches long. An open frill stretches from 9 to 14 inches wide, making it at least as big as the rest of the lizard.
- Frilled lizards lay tiny eggs in a nest in the ground. The newborn babies can take care of themselves.
- Frilled lizards stand on their back legs when they raise their frills to scare another animal.
Frilled Lizard Vocabulary
- Creative: unusual, original
- Frill: decorative skin or fabric
- Tactic: plan, idea
- Hiss: sharp sound
Learn More All About Frilled Lizards
Watch this cool video all about frilled lizards:
A video documentary about frilled lizards fighting for territory.
Frilled Lizard Q&A
Question: Are frilled lizards venomous?
Answer: Frilled lizards are all bark and no bite. They are not venomous and are not dangerous to humans. Unless you’re a bug or a small animal, you have nothing to fear from a frilled lizard.
Question: Are frilled lizard eggs soft or hard?
Answer: Frilled lizard eggs are soft.
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An emphasis on individual aesthetic accomplishment was codified by Japan’s 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties (Bunkazai Hogōhō 文化財保護法). Before the war Japan had an official roster National Treasures: works of art with historical and cultural significance. The new law designated individual artists working with traditional forms and media as Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties (Jūyō Mukei Bunkazai Hojisha 重要無形文化財保持者), commonly referred to as Living National Treasures (Ningen Kokuhō 人間国宝). Many of the potters represented in this exhibition achieved this designation in recognition of their work reviving, preserving, and bringing original aesthetic nuances to forms of pottery associated with particular local traditions.
Among print makers, the post-War values encouraged the Creative Prints (Sōsaku Hanga 創作版画) movement, in which a single artist—rather than a series of workshops—drew the design, carved the blocks, and did the printing. The resulting prints, often signed in western style by the artist, were acclaimed at international exhibitions as Japan’s foremost contribution to modern, art and celebrated by American writers such as James Michener and Oliver Statler, whose influential books are included in this exhibition.
Penn State was part of this history of alliance formation. From the 1960s on, the university sponsored visits by Japanese print-makers and potters, and acquired examples of their art. Professor of Art Education Kenneth Beittel catalyzed much of Penn State’s engagement with Japan in this era. In 1967, Beittel traveled to Japan, where he studied and met with working potters while acquiring a representative group of Japanese ceramics for the Art Education Study Collection. After the museum of art was opened in the 1970s, these works were transferred here. This collection was augmented in 1986 with more pieces purchased following Beittel’s advice. Beittel donated more ceramics, and other donors have generously contributed post-war Japanese pots and prints to Penn State.
This exhibition was the work of a class team-taught by Jonathan Abel and Christopher Reed, which focused on art and literature associated with Japanese-American relations in the decades after World War II. Students in the class who researched the objects on display and wrote labels are Mohamed Allaith, Jesse Blyth, Matt Bodenschatz, Kayla De Stefano, Ken Fite, Caitlyn Grimaldi, Sarah Keim, Skyler Leiser, Matthew Libretti, Genna Malatino, Bree McEldowney, Jinny McGill, Samantha Parson, Hannah Sollenberger, Katelyn Spellman, and Craig Wenner. We are grateful to Kendall Brown, Louise Cort, Shannon Goff, Josh Rome, and Bert Winther-Tamaki for their expert advice.
Photography for this exhibition was supported with a grant from Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence.


The influence of Baroque dance in the performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Suites a Violoncello Senza Basso
Qureshi, Rifat Javed
Doctor of Musical Arts
A major part of Johann Sebastian Bach's works was influenced by dance. Only recently, musician-scholars have begun to analyze carefully the effect of dance on instrumental suites from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the Six Suites a Violoncello Senza Basso, I discuss the evolution of the dances found in this collection (allemande, courante, sarabande, minuet, bourree, gavotte and gigue) and present their basic step patterns. Bach composed in a contrapuntally complex texture and on the surface obscured dance elements: yet, the dance pulse must be recognized and understood. In this study, the original violoncello part is reduced to its basic melodic structure and rhythmic pulses to reveal dance step patterns. The performer is given instruction on how to imitate these dance inflections with the instrument. Even though these instrumental suites were not intended to be danced to, the performer cannot ignore the importance of dance in this work. As a result, this knowledge will help the performer create spirited and intelligent performances.
Dance; Music; Music education


Sets of leveled readers were at the top of our wish list this year. With Kindergarten, First and Second Grade at our school, having material for the children to learn to read was essential. Sets of books at different levels are an important part of literacy development because they allow the class to read along together and for teachers to select material that is at the right level for each child. It was a challenge to create our own literacy materials each day at the beginning of the school year. Luckily Anthony Bivona, superintendent of Brookfield Public Schools in Connecticut (and father to Kindergarten teacher Marissa) was able to search around his district for old books and other materials that were no longer being used. They were shipped to the Dominican Republic in a container thanks to ACES foundation and we now have an amazing collection of beautiful literacy materials and books a many different levels. I enjoyed reading with the entire class and was amazed at the words my students read and how they followed along with the books.
New collection in the office
Such amazing resources
Learning to read!
Reading and writing in First and Second Grade
Thank you so much Brookfield School System for your generous gift of books, resources, weather kits, paper and so many more materials. We are so lucky to have generous people who believe in the work we are doing at LTIS and put effort into helping us. Your contributions definitely have made a positive impact here!


The declaration is intended to inform current government inquiries into education and into the NBN. Policies, programs and funding could then be provided to have services directly to students, resources for teachers and for educational institutions.
There is a vigorous discussion taking place over formal and informational education, the role of teachers and institutions. As a former bureaucrat, I wanted to start from existing formal statements, such as Article 26 on the right to education of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (General Assembly of the United Nations, December 10, 1948). This is heavily loaded with decades of political baggage, but the original principles are very relevant to the application of Internet to education:
- Article 26
- (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
- (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
- (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
The process used was also interesting. We sat in the open area of the UoC "Teaching Space" using a video projector and Meeting Words and Wikiversity for group preparation of a document. Each of us sitting on the leather lunge chairs could use WiFi on our netbooks and tablets. Text entered into MeetingWords by anyone was immediately avialable to everyone and displayed on the wall screen. This text was tidied up and then pasted to the Wikiversity. This worked well but was an exhausting process and we could not keep this up for more than about 20 minutes.
We started to get stuck at the point of proposing concrete projects. Here is my wish list:
- v-ALTC: In my view there is scope for putting in programs to replace the Australian Learning and Teaching Council which the Prime Minister cancelled last week. There could be a grass roots online version of ALTC, based on the approach taken by EdNA. I suggest a modest $10M over ten years.
- v-Schools: The example of upper secondary schools in the ACT aalso providing vocational education and community facilities such as libraries could be emulated. I suggest $1B over ten years to set up new and remodelled educational facilities in Australia.


A lot of our readers are interested in drawing. So, on the chance that it might be useful to some of you, we've put together a short list of sites where you can learn basic pen and ink techniques.
There's a channel on YouTube called GMS Art with a collection of short 20- or 30-second videos demonstrating how to create stippling, hatching, parallel lines and other basic techniques. Well done videos, easy to follow. Seems to be a production of the Greenbelt Middle School art department.
The Student Art Guide is a website that offers free art education articles and tutorials. One of the most basic pen and ink techniques the site teaches is line drawing.
When we first picked up a pen or pencil and started making marks on paper, we began with line. Whether self-taught, through trial and error, or guided by others, we learned how line defines form, creates structure, divides a frame, traces contour, creates tonal variation (cross-hatching, for example) and leads the eye from one part of a work to another.
The step-by-step instructions explain contour drawing, continuous line drawing and gesture drawing. They also provide plenty of examples so you can see how others have done it.
The Smithsonian also provides some basic pen and ink instruction on its Studio Arts site. That includes suggestions for materials, as well as tips for creating, among other things, something called scumbling.
And one of the most in-depth free materials that we've seen was put together by eight members of the Sketching Workshop, an artist group with the motto "All that is not given is lost."
The guide Pen & Ink Drafting Techniques is a downloadable pdf with essays and instructions from the members, each discussing his or her personal approach to drawing. I downloaded the 8 mb document with no problems.
Artists from all over the world share tips on everything from how to hold your pen for proper lines to how time limits affect the kind of line styles that you use. They cover materials and techniques and offer advice on what has worked for each of them, and what hasn't. Included are scads of pieces of their own art that illustrate the techniques they are sharing.
Hopefully that will be enough to get our neophyte artists working on creations of their own.


Should health numeracy be assessed objectively or subjectively?
INTRODUCTION: Because current evidence suggests that numeracy affects how people make decisions, it is an important factor to account for in studies assessing the effectiveness of medical decision support interventions. Subjective and objective numeracy assessment methods are available that vary in theoretical background, skills assessed, known relationship with decision making skills, and ease of implementation. The best way to use these tools to assess numeracy when conducting medical decision-making research is currently unknown. METHODS: We conducted Internet surveys comparing numeracy assessments obtained using the subjective numeracy scale (SNS) and 5 objective numeracy scales. Each study participant completed the SNS and 1 objective numeracy measure. Following each assessment, participants indicated willingness to repeat the assessment and rated its user acceptability. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 78%, resulting in a total sample size of 673. Spearman correlations between the SNS and the objective numeracy measures ranged from 0.19 to 0.44. Acceptability assessments for the short form of the Numeracy Understanding in Medicine Instrument and the SNS did not differ significantly. The other objective scales all had lower acceptability ratings than the SNS. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with prior research suggesting that objective and subjective numeracy scales measure related but distinct constructs. Due to current uncertainty regarding which construct is more likely to influence the effectiveness of decision support interventions, these findings warrant further investigation to determine the proper use of objective versus subjective numeracy assessments in medical decision-making research. Pending additional information, a reasonable approach is to measure both objective and subjective numeracy so that the full range of actual and perceived numeracy skills can be taken into account


The hardest part for students taking a high school fine arts course is leaving the studio and moving on to their next class. Motivated art students are actively engaged in everything from slapping clay on a pottery wheel and skillfully throwing a pot to silk-screening an original design on a T-shirt or designing a campus sculpture garden to exhibit mosaic stepping stones and wood carvings created by working independently or in partnership with peers.
Learning to Collaborate
Working on group fine arts projects like a school mural or campus sculpture garden helps students learn to share and grow through collaboration -- a valuable employment skill. Student learning through shared experiences of discussions, compromises and acceptance of new ideas from others can lead to successful endeavors. Collaborative art-making provides a safe and practical opportunity for students to learn acceptance of different points-of-view, experience student diversity by recognizing contributions from different cultures and grasp how shared success feels from contributing to a job well done.
Stimulating Brain Growth
Students need fresh academic experiences to keep their brains growing and developing new connections that allow information to process more efficiently. Through the use of various art methods and materials, students encounter endless possibilities for their works of art. Creative processes also give students a chance to begin to make choices that become meaningful to them as they develop their own personal style.
The process of having students critique artwork -- their own and that of their classmates -- is essential in art education. Participating in critiques offers students practice in language, recalling prior knowledge, judging challenges and one of the most vital and often underrated skills necessary for success in any endeavor -- listening. Through controlled and supportive art room critiques, students learn about reflection, expression, constructive advice and arguments that are part of an academic skill-set that they can apply in future class discussions or writing assignments that cross over all subject areas.
Many students take a fine arts class in high school as an elective choice to meet the state arts requirement for graduation. For other students, it is the beginning step toward a career in art. For an art student to get into an art college or university, she usually must compile a portfolio of about 12 of her best works for review by an admissions officer at her prospective school. Time spent productively in a high school fine arts class plays a huge role in college admittance, scholarships and internship opportunities.
- Ableimages/Digital Vision/Getty Images


A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:
Music at Caedmon
At Caedmon, we encourage children to use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and experiment with, creating, selecting and combining music. As children progress throughout the school, we want children to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
At Caedmon Primary School children are encouraged to learn and perform songs singing in solo and ensemble contexts. We offer opportunities for them to listen and concentrate on music from different traditions and from great composers and musicians, as well as listening to many high quality live performances.
In Key Stage One, we have a music specialist working alongside the class teacher to begin teaching the inter-related dimensions of music and develop the children’s musicianship skills. In Key Stage Two, the specialist teaches the class about musical notation and composition before introducing them to a tuned instrument (Violin) in upper KS2. All children at Caedmon are given the opportunity to learn a peripatetic instrument.
When learning to appreciate music and musicians from different cultures children learn about tolerance and acceptance. Children learn that musicians can express themselves though their compositions and that should not lead to prejudice or discrimination. When singing Faith songs together children are given the choice to participate.
Music is not considered a 'core subject' like Maths and Literacy. Children are taught skills from the National Curriculum and the Non-Core Skills Passport. Teachers will use questioning, observation and outcomes of work to assess these skills. Teachers use informal assessments to inform their planning and to plan next steps for children.
Subject Leader: Mrs Clennell


TEMI: Engaging in Primary Science
Anne O’ Dwyer and Peter Childs developed and offered a workshop for primary (elementary) teachers in Limerick on 18th April 2016. This two-hour after school workshop shared many of the ideas from the TEMI project and ideas for teaching Science in a suitable and accessible manner for the primary school teachers. In the workshop, the teachers were introduced to the TEMI project and website. A workbook of activities suitable for primary pupils was compiled for the participants. This resource contained a detailed description of the engaging activities, the following possible steps to scaffold the learners’ exploration and investigation as well as some explanatory support material for the teachers.
The two-hour workshop was interactive and hands-on. Teachers were given the opportunity to participate in the engaging mysteries. They worked together in pairs and in small groups to experience the science lesson as learners. The topics that were explored included gravity, air as force, the existence of atmospheric pressure, sinking and floating and mixing liquids.
The four pillars of the TEMI WAY of teaching are transferable and applicable to the primary classroom: the use of mysteries, the 5E structure of the lesson, teaching using showmanship and the Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR). The aims of the primary Science curriculum in Ireland merit the values of TEMI project “…to foster the child’s natural curiosity, so encouraging independent enquiry and creative action” (Department of Education and Science, 1999)
Department of Education and Science (1999), Primary School Curriculum- Science: Social, Environmental and Scientific Education, Dublin, Government of Ireland.


This egg experiment is awesome. It magically transforms an ordinary egg to a large naked egg through this egg science project that kids will love. Kids Activities Blog is always excited when household items hold magical science powers!
We made a Naked Egg!
For Science, we are learning about the “building blocks of life” – aka Cells – this year with the kids. This is the best science experiment for kids EVER! We used this “naked egg” project along with the song about cells (featured at the end) to learn the parts of our cells.
The kids were able to identify cell parts by physically seeing, smelling, touching, and even tasting – ewwww! We put the egg in vinegar.
As the shell of the egg is made of calcium (a base, one of the primary ingredients in antacids), it breaks down with fizzles and bubbles when it is in contact with an acid. Vinegar is an acid.
We took our egg and dropped it lightly into a jar of white vinegar. After about 15 min it starts to bubble – just like when vinegar is dripped on baking soda – after about 8 hours the egg starts to spin as the gasses are released from the egg shell.
It is so pretty to see the dancing egg.
Due to osmosis, the cell – aka egg – absorbs the liquid and will start to swell. Parts of the egg shell will crack and dissolve.
After three days, you will have a completely naked egg!
Naked Egg – ewwwww!
Once your egg has lost its shell, be very careful with it. The membrane is very soft and permeable. We actually broke on of the eggs in our experiment during out photo shoot.
The naked egg is so squishy and slimy feeling – your kids will love it! As they hold it, identify the parts of your egg. There is the membrane – it holds the egg together.
We compared the membranes of a fresh egg, a burst naked egg and an egg that was sitting in sugar water. The differences and similarities are astounding. We found the nucleus – the command center or the brain of the cell- it is where RNA is replicated. The cytoplasm was easy to find, it is the “white” of the egg. In a chicken egg, the vacuole and Golgi bodies are inside the yolk.
Egg Science Project
Look at how much bigger the egg is after it absorbed all the fluid. For another fascinating experiment (if only we had more eggs, we burst a couple and didn’t have enough leftover), put the swollen naked egg into corn syrup and watch it deflate.
The opposite of osmosis will occur and the liquid will leave the cell, leaving a brownish shriveled egg. So interesting to literally watch what eating too much sugar does to us!
More Egg Science
Here is a great song that we used to learn the parts of a cell.
Have you done a science experiment with your kids?
I’d love to read about it!This science experiment was inspired by this egg experiment. We featured it last year in our Silly Science Experiment collection. Thanks Emma for sharing the details with us so we could remove our own egg shell!
More Kids Activities
This naked egg experiment is a great way to for kids to see science at work first hand. For more science experiments for kids, check out these other ideas:
- Rotting Pumpkin Science Experiment
- Science Experiment with Baking Soda and Vinegar
- Science for Kids: Make a Balance
Did you know? We wrote a science book!
Our book, The 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments, features tons of awesome activities just like this one that will keep your kids engaged while they learn. How awesome is that?!


[Extract] Over the last decade, there has been an ever- growing discourse around environmental issues in education and situating sustainability concepts in early childhood learning (Barrett Hacking, Barratt & Scott, 2007). Some authorities believe that if an ethic of caring is not established during childhood, the first few years of life, then these attitudes may never be developed (White, 2004). Therefore, many began to consider how children could be stimulated and encouraged to reconnect with local, natural environments. Noddings (2010) argues for a care ethic in education that cultivates empathy and critical thinking, important character qualities for challenging status quo beliefs. Allowing children to create visual narratives of understanding and tell stories, allowed the researchers to enter into their conceptual understandings of self, others and the world (Binder, 2011). While the research explored how arts-based, multimodal methods in a crosscountry online learning environment can help to determine and enhance young children's understanding about their and others' environments and environmental sustainability, for the purpose of this paper, the researchers will focus on what emerged from the visual narratives and stories created by children in both countries, the intersection, supported by the interviews, and the approach of online learning using blogs enhanced environmental awareness.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/reesasorin/37/


At the time of the 1841 Census, England was passing through a period of rapid and radical change, from being a country with a primarily agricultural economy to becoming the first modern industrial state. In the previous forty years there had been immense advances in industrial techniques and inventions which enabled Britain to become the workshop of the world, and for a few decades the foremost industrial power.The country had survived the period of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars without any serious civil disturbance. During the first forty years of the 19th century there had been a series of legislative and administrative reforms.In 1828 the Catholic Emancipation Act freed Roman Catholics from the restrictions placed upon them.In 1829 Sir Robert Peel set up the Metropolitan Police Force and a proper constabulary was gradually introduced all over the country, creating a framework for law and order.In 1832 the Great Reform Bill rationalised Parliamentary representation, swept away the “pocket boroughs” and extended the franchise to many freeholders and the larger tenant farmers in the counties.In 1834 central Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages was introduced, enabling proper statistics of the population to be prepared, and in 1836 Local Government was reformed.Apart from these the greatest change lay in the realm of transport. The building of canals had enabled coal and agricultural produce to reach centres of population, but an even greater change was the building of the modern railway system, carrying both goods and passengers. The pioneer was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830. In 1832 a railway reached Leicester, but the Midland Railway did not reach Oakham until 1848, (after buying and closing the Oakham Canal) so that in 1841 the nearest railway to Oakham would still be at Leicester, and Rutland was still in the age of the horse.The early 1830’s had been a time of good harvests, but from 1836 agricultural areas were hard hit by poor harvests, and by 1837 there was a severe trade depression which lasted till 1842. In that year there were disturbances known as the ‘plug riots’ in the Lancashire and Yorkshire textile manufacturing towns in protest against the lowering of wages by factory owners and the poverty of the handloom weavers. The recovery of trade in the following year saved the country from further serious disorder. The movement known as Chartism appeared in 1837 demanding universal male suffrage, annual parliaments and voting by secret ballot Chartism was to reach its peak in 1848 but then died away. After the Great Reform Bill the Government made a grant to encourage elementary education, working through two societies, the (Church of England) National Society and the (nonconformist) British and Foreign School Society. Even so, in 1841 it was thought that two thirds of the male population and half the female population were unable even to sign their name.It was not until the Census of 1851 that the majority of the population became urban dwellers. London was far and away the largest city, indeed the largest in Europe. In 1841 the population was said by Henry Mayhew to be made up as follows:Engaged in trade and manufacture3,000,000Engaged in agriculture 1,500,000Engaged in mining, quarrying and transport 750,000Domestic servants 1,000,000Independent persons 500,000Professional persons 200,000Army, Navy, Civil servants etc. (Government service) 200,000Paupers etc. 200,000Residue (3,500,000 women and 7,500,000 children) 11,000,000Total population 18,350,000There seems no information available as to how the trade depression of 1838-42 affected Rutland, but the Committee of the Oakham Canal Company felt able to spend over a thousand pounds on improvements to the Oakham wharf in 1841, which suggests a degree of prosperity locally. Nationally, one very hopeful feature of the period was the accession to the throne in 1837 of a young, intelligent and strong minded queen, Victoria, and her marriage in 1840 to Prince Albert. Together they set the tone for the following half century, and by Prince Albert’s influence it became the convention that the Crown was strictly non-party and did not take sides in politics.


It is impossible to count the number of times we piano teachers have heard, “I wish I had learned piano as a child.” Adults assume that if they didn’t learn to play piano as a child, then it’s simply too late.
Yet not only are adult piano lessons more often than not extremely rewarding, but adults have a number of advantages in learning piano compared to children.
Adults learn of their own volition. Children very often have to be persuaded to practice and attend piano lessons. Adults, on the other hand, don’t need to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to their piano teachers. (Admittedly, I do know some teachers whose lessons I’d be kicking and screaming to avoid.) Adult piano lessons are thus almost invariably a pleasure for both student and teacher.
Adults have highly developed logical and critical thinking skills. It is often thought that playing music is a purely creative, right-brained act, but this is by no means the case. As the most emotional of the arts, music indeed favors the Dionysian right brain compared to the Apollonian left. Yet so much of interpreting music is a matter of basic analysis, of understanding music’s harmonic vocabulary and what the composer is doing with the musical material. Playing music without understanding these essentials would be like learning to pronounce syllables in a foreign language but having little or no idea what the words mean.
Adults can learn complex concepts much more easily and understand technical explanations. This makes it possible for adults to learn music theory and analysis far more easily than do children. The importance of being able to analyze and understand a piece of music from the beginning of study cannot be overstated. Nothing is more common than students who attain skill on an instrument but who have only a rudimentary understanding of the music, which severely limits their playing in ways they cannot imagine. I believe much of this state of affairs arises from children who learn notes before they are able to comprehend them, and their knowledge of harmony and theory never catches up to their finger skill. Adults, by contrast, are able to grasp the elements of music and musical structures quite readily, like a scientist who understands how the world works.
Adults have developed attention spans. Children’s attention spans, by contrast, are often limited to only a few minutes at a time. It takes careful concentration to learn the piano, and adults have a considerable advantage in this regard. Progress on a musical instrument is a matter of accumulating many hours of concentrated, careful practice. (Practicing without concentration is not only unproductive, it is outright destructive to your playing.)
Adults are emotionally developed. Music, after all, is the most directly emotional of the arts, and its wide spectrum of emotions can only be expressed and comprehended by those who have experienced those emotions themselves. Emotion in music has very much to do with musical vocabulary (harmony, or how tones combine) and how they extend in time and create musical forms. The former is music’s vertical dimension (notes in relation to one another at any given moment), the latter its horizontal (how notes relate to one another in the listener’s aural memory).
Adults are able to read fluently. By contrast, very young children can’t yet read letters or numbers, which necessitates more basic teaching methods. Note names, musical instructions and fingering numbers are not the only things that require the ability to read letters and numbers: the fascinating areas of music history and theory, so critical to playing music competently, do as well.
By definition, adults are fully grown, whereas children have as-yet undeveloped muscles. While the hands themselves can and should gain flexibility and strength from practicing piano (and the hand span can even increase), the fingers and palms of adults are fully grown. This simple advantage should not be overlooked in music education. Children who play string instruments, for instance, are forced to adapt to instruments of different sizes as they grow. The violin, for instance, comes in fully eight different sizes! The piano keyboard, by contrast, is only available in one size. (Steinway, however, once made a special piano for the diminutive Josef Hofmann, one with slightly narrower keys.) While only a very few composers (Alkan among them) consistently required large hands, fully grown hands make more music accessible to players.
Remember, it is never too late to learn music! If you’re an adult wishing to commence or resume piano playing, I encourage you to discover your true musicality. Adult piano lessons may be your path to musical fulfillment.
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Dr C Chandramohan,
Sr Adviser, Planning Commission, Government of India
Teachers of good quality can revolutionise education
India has a large educational framework of primary and village schools. A total of 95 million children have enrolled in schools. There is a substantial decline in the social and regional gaps in education.
The first issue is of lack of quality education. The other drawback is that although students have enrolled yet they are not progressing into the system so there is a significant drop out rate. With 8.9 million children out of school, good basic elementary education has to be achieved. In Secondary Education, demand has increased significantly and only a few states like UP, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Gujarat have a strong private sector participation in schools and higher education.
Secondary education cannot be achieved without full partnership with the private sector. The next step is to ensure the quality of teachers. The major problem is that we have about two lakh secondary school teachers who are not fully trained. Teaching has to be seen as a specialised profession which requires knowledge and skill. Teacher Education Scheme has been operational for the last two decades, but nothing much has come out of it.
Pre-service teachers’ training has to be heavily invested in. About 600 universities have come up and eight more IITs and IIMs have been added but the quality of education in these institutions has significantly dropped. Universities are of huge size, but they are unmanageable at the micro level. Education today means reading thick books, whereas the curriculum has to change and things have to be broken down to small specs for better understanding. The primary aim of education is to provide generic and cognitive skills to the students. With the expansion of higher education institutes, we have to consider inclusion and quality in its wake.
Digital learning solutions are uniquely capable of bringing quality and inclusion to the education space.


Springtime means new beginnings, the flowers blooming, trees budding and new babies. This week happens to be spring break from school, which makes it the perfect opportunity to spend some fun time making crafts together.
This is an easy kids craft project that uses air dry modeling clay and basic tools. Just follow the simple step by step instructions.
- This project is suitable for ages 4+ with adult supervision
- A easy and simple projects for group activities; Girl Scouts; Boy Scouts; Sleep Overs,Pre-school; youth groups and elementary education. It is also a great party activity
- Teaches basic shapes and proportion.
- Substitute polymer clay for airdry clay or make from fondant or gum paste for a cake topper or cupcake decoration
- (cost: Approximately $2-3 per child)
Here’s the supplies you will need:
- Cloud Clay Air Dry clay – Yellow, Orange and White
- Wiggle Eyes
- Kids safe markers
- plastic egg (optional)
- Scissors (child safe)
Tips on how to work with Cloud Clay:
- Since it’s an air-dry clay, keep it under a moist towel while working with it.
- To store,wrap in plastic wrap and place into a zip-lock bag and remove the air before sealing tightly. Keep in a cool place away from heat.
- Cloud clay will bind to itself while wet. You can bond a “dry” piece to a wet piece by moistening the joints with a daub of water. You can also join two dry pieces together in the same manner.
- If clay becomes a little dry when working with it, add a drop or two of water and work in, it will come back to life. You have a several hour working window to complete your project so no need to rush!
Roll a 1″ ball of white clay and press around egg to create the base. (you can also flatten the ball in your hands to create a bowl shape if you don’t have an egg form) Cut a zig-zag pattern into the top of the egg with scissors
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Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen Video for Kids
Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen was a mechanical engineer from Germany. He was born on March 27, 1845 in the Lower Rhine Province of Germany. He was the first one to produce and detect electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength. These rays are now known as x-rays or Rontgen rays.
Facts you didn’t know: –
- In 1863, he was expelled from the school after being accused of a prank that another student had committed.
- In 1848, his family moved to Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
- In 1895, he invented X-rays which is his most famous invention. It was a remarkable discovery in the field of medicines.
- The first X-ray ever taken was an image of his wife’s hand.
- Rontgen was the winner of first noble prize in physics. He got the prize in 1901.
- He earned his PhD from the University of Zurich and then he went to Wurzburg to work.
- In 1872, he marries Anna Bertha Ludwig and later they adopted Bertha’s brother’s daughter and raised her as their own child.
- Wilhelm Rontgen carried out his research in several fields including thermal conductivity.
- He never patented any of his discoveries.
- In 1919, he received the prestigious ‘Helmholtz Medal’.
- He died on February 10, 1923 due to carcinoma of the intestine.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Fun Facts for Kids about Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen ." Easy Science for Kids, Aug 2017. Web. 24 Aug 2017. < http://easyscienceforkids.com/wilhelm-conrad-roentgen-video-for-kids/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2017). Fun Facts for Kids about Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from http://easyscienceforkids.com/wilhelm-conrad-roentgen-video-for-kids/
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From Science Play to “Real” Science
I don’t know how things work in your house, but my little scientist usually can’t wait to “do science”. While I appreciate her enthusiasm, jumping directly into experiments usually results in a lot of fun and sensory science play but not in any sort of increased understanding of how real scientists approach their work. In this sense, reading books about scientists helped more than doing science experiment, because Smarty learned from books that real scientist do a lot of writing – they have observational notebooks, they measure and record their data, and, of course, they also write books and articles about their discoveries. Even though my daughter was a reluctant writer until the middle of the second grade, I always encouraged her to put a pen to paper during science projects. In school, kids also maintained “science journals” where they recorded their observations and drew pictures.
How a Science Journal Might Look Like
A younger child might simply draw or trace objects during nature walks – it’s a great way to encourage observational science, especially for visual-spatial children. As Smarty was getting older, she quickly shifted from drawing, which she never particularly enjoyed, to writing her own science recipes:
|A science observation journal – kindergarten|
|A science notebook – 3rd grade|
A Science Journal Printable
For this post I have put together this science journal printable to help train future scientists in a scientific process of formulating the question and the hypothesis, practicing their powers of observation and drawing conclusions. We haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but hopefully my readers will find this Think Like a Scientist printable journal useful.
Do you ask your kids to do some writing during science? Why or why not?
More Science for Kids?
Follow my Science Pinterest boardFollow Natalie Planet Smarty Pants's board Science on Pinterest.
Teach Second Grade
This post was inspired by collaboration of kid bloggers that either homeschool their second graders or complement their learning with after school activities at home. Our theme for this week was Journals. Visit my blog friends for more journal activities for 2nd graders:
Apple Writing Prompts and Papers from Sallie Borrink Learning
Roll It and Write! Journal Activity for Kids from School Time Snippets
Cursive Handwriting Journal from Sugar Aunts
Heart to Heart Journals from Still Playing School
Digital Journalling with Kids from Rainy Day Mum
Fall Themed Reading Journal from Look! We're Learning!
30 Free Journal Prompts for September from Life Over C's
Connecting Science and Writing from Planet Smarty Pants


American Sign Language (ASL) Stories/Songs
Center on Literacy and Deafness
Funded by Institute of Education Sciences #R324C120001
Directed by Sandy Huston
Edited by Lindsay Castleberry
We have 35 ASL Stories and 29 ASL Songs that you can view on our YouTube channel:
Center for Literacy and Deafness (CLAD) has created a variety of videos to help young children gain a foundation in American Sign Language (ASL). The short stories revolve around the daily activities of Miss Giggle and her students, while the songs teach vocabulary in a fun context. These videos are part of an early literacy intervention called Foundations for Literacy that builds foundational skills for all DHH children. The videos can be used with all children.


Developing Writing Intensive School Environments
New York City Writing Project
(Funders: National Writing Project, Institute for Literacy Studies)
This study examines the degree to which the NYCWP’s involvement with teachers and administrators in two schools contributed to the emergence of a writing-intensive school environment. A mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis was employed in these noncomparative case studies. The case studies illustrate how differences in school culture and structure shaped the NYCWP’s ways of working, which in turn led to different levels of success in developing opportunities for students to engage in learning through varied and meaningful forms of writing throughout the school day.
Findings suggest that a consistent focus on literacy development across content areas (curricular cohesiveness) cannot be achieved in the absence of a mature professional community. Furthermore, a mature professional community will continue to benefit from professional development aimed at sustaining and enhancing an environment with a high degree of writing intensity, which ultimately affects both teacher practice and student learning outcomes.
- Carhill, A. & Campos, A. with N. Mintz & M. Wolfe (2011). The development of writing-intensive school environments over time. Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project.
- Peach, R. & Campos, A. (2010, May). Improving literacy across the curriculum: Developing a writing-intensive school. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting, Denver, CO.


Music at Farmington River Elementary School is an important part of our students’ education. It is critical in providing students with knowledge of our world as well as broadening their knowledge of topics learned in their regular classroom. Skills developed in music class are transferred to other areas of their life as students expand their imagination, creativity, concentration, thinking-skills, and confidence.
In general music classes, the National Standards for Music Education provide a strong foundation for the lessons that take place. Each lesson contains one or more of the following 9 standards:
National Standards for Music Education
- Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
- Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.
- Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments.
- Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines.
- Reading and notating music.
- Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
- Evaluating music and music performances.]
- Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
- Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
Ms. Grey follows a curriculum requiring students to answer essential questions upon which units are built. As students move from Kindergarten to 6th grade, they will be presented with questions such as: “When does sound become music?” “How is the recorder a musical instrument?” and “Where do composers get their ideas?” Throughout the year, students explore stories in music, dances, instruments, world music, folk tunes, our country’s music, compositional work, music history, and more. In class, students work both together and independently to move, sing, play instruments, listen, perform, and critically evaluate music. It has been said that, “no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts.” (National Association for Music Education) The music curriculum provides students with the stepping-stones to becoming cultured, educated adults.[cincopa AIMAYwq8Ic74]


At Educate LLC, we aim to empower teachers in engaging students in a vibrant learning environment. When it comes to arts & music, it is often less about the arts and music proficiency but more about the impact of arts and music education in developing all-rounded children. Gains in critical thinking, verbal skills, and even Math have been associated with arts involvement while music education has been known to improve confidence, concentration, motivation, and more.
As you can see, it is not hard to agree that arts and music education make up one of the cornerstones of a well-rounded education policy. But what can be done to advance your school’s art & music classes so that students can learn even better, faster, and steadier?


Burmese Contemporary Art – The History
Burma (Myanmar), a Southeast Asian country, has been isolated from the rest of the world since 1988, due to its non-democratic military dictatorship. Similar to its political and economic isolation, Contemporary Art in this region also does not have much western influence. Developing on its own terms, art in Burma reflects a fine balance between modernity and the country’s rich cultural heritage. The motifs and art theme in paintings are often related to the deep-rooted Marxist and Buddhist beliefs in the country. The difficult socio-political situation in the country also has a significant influence on its Contemporary Art.
Contemporary Art is not much experimental in Burma, with oil, poster color, crayons, and watercolor as the most popular mediums for paintings. A characteristic feature of art education in Burma is the system of apprenticeship, where-in students learn from their masters in workshops. The development in Contemporary Art is limited to the two major cities of Rangoon (Yangon) and Mandalay. The State School of Fine Arts opened in Yangon and Mandalay, in 1952. They are the first formal art schools of the country. The National Museum of Myanmar, established in 1952, was first platform for aspiring artists to display the nation’s art.
The Artworks & Artists
Artists U Ba Nyan and U Ngwe Gaing were the first ones to introduce Western Painting style in Burmese Art. U Lun Gywe (Yangon, 1930) is considered the greatest living master of Burmese Paintings. His style of painting is close to Impressionism, with his favorite subject being the beauty of women. ‘Dancer I & II’ (2006), ‘Bathing Beauties’ (2007), ‘Bathing Nymphs’ (2007), and ‘Nude series’ (2005) are among his famous artworks. Aung Kyaw Htet’s (Myaungmya, 1965) work mirrors basic values and rituals that encompass Buddhism and his rural upbringing. Unlike most Burmese artists, his paintings depict the faces of monks and nuns in detail, with a special series of monks in red robes. ‘Four Monks in White’ (2006), ‘Portrait of a Monk in Red’ (2008), ‘Robing at Dawn I & II’ (2009), ‘Innocence & Faith’ (2009), and ‘A Walk in the Sun’ (2009) are among his innumerable artworks.
Some other ace Burmese Modern artists are Maung Di, Khin One, Khin Maung Yln, Kyi Twe, Nyunt Myat, San Myint, Paw Oo Thet, Win Pe (Mandalay), Po Po (born 1957), Mote Thone, Soe Naing, San Min, Min Wae, Wah Nu (born 1977), MPP Ye Myint, San Naing, Paw Thame, Nyein Chan Su, The Maw Naing, Aung Myint, Aung Ko, Moe Satt, Mrat Lunn Htwann, and Nyan Lin Htet.
Despite the absence of affluent collectors, the close-knit contemporary artists group in Myanmar exhibits its works in the private galleries of Yangon and Mandalay with enormous zeal. Insulated from the western world, the unique ‘eastern-ness’ of their art expression has shown beauty in the social realities of its conservative society. Myanmar’s economy has seen enormous growth, since it became a member of ASEAN in 1997. With this awakening, Myanmar Modernism, in its traditional pictorial connotations, also gained recognition in international art circles. Art critics across the world consider Myanmar Contemporary Art, with its dedication to most common everyday situation, enlightening and fresh, compared to the sophisticated Western Art forms.
Source by Annette Labedzki


Praxis II Elementary Education Study Guide 2014-2015
Trivium Test Prep’s Praxis II Elementary Education - Multiple Subjects (5031) provides the information, secrets, and confidence you need to pass the exam and get you into the classroom. Our Praxis study guide provides a comprehensive, easy-to-understand review of all tested concepts: Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. We also provide a full-length practice exam to ensure that you master the material. Best of all, our study guide is streamlined and concept-driven, guaranteeing you’ll get better results through shorter, more effective study time. Trivium Test Prep gives you “everything you need to know” in a concise, comprehensive, and effective package.


The summer Olympics just ended a few months ago. We watched the American gymnastics team win many events, take home many medals and set new records. Children all over the world watched in awe as the professional gymnasts flipped over and over and jumped from one bar routine to the next. They went out into their backyards and attempted to flip around, and begged their parents to sign them up for a gymnastic class for kids. Some parents may have considered it, while others figured that it was just a phase and ignored the request. Consider taking this request seriously, as there are many benefits of gymnastics classes events for children.
Children as young as 2 years old can start the practice of gymnastics. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids between 2 and 5 years could start gymnastics, as long as classes are geared for their maturity and motor skill levels. Children as young as 2 years old, can practice a variety of tumbling and running skills that will only improve their motor skill growth. The American Academy of Pediatrics also suggests that kids between 2 and 5 years old practice motor skills such as tumbling, running, throwing and catching.
A gymnastic class for kids at this young age increases their motor skill preparation and provides them with the daily suggested amount of exercise. It also sets them up for a routine of regular exercise. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that young people aged 6 to 17 years participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily. With technology and mobile phones, there are not enough children reaching this daily limit. Enrolling a child into gymnastic events and gymnastic classes better sets them up for this routine.
A regular routine of exercise and daily activity decreases obesity and health problems in children, as they get older. It also can prevent many growth problems. Gymnastics for kids may also promote healthier eating habits, as children want to do better, including eating the foods that will give them more energy to excel at the sport of gymnastics.
Enrolling children into a gymnastic class for kids can also help them later on in their academic success. Many studies have shown that children who are enrolled in sports do better academically. When children do better academically, they are more likely to graduate, attend college and find better jobs. When a child is in a gymnastic class for kids, they are more likely to join a sporting activity during middle school and high school. In fact, many gymnasts later on join cheerleading and dance teams. The team function in a high school setting can provide the child with many academic and social benefits. The team involvement also looks better on college applications and resumes.
Parents who are interested in enrolling their child into local gymnastics classes should find one that their child is comfortable in. The specific gymnastics class should be catered toward their skill and age level. It should also have instructors that the child is comfortable with. It can help to go to the first few classes with the child, helping them get acquainted with the different people, building and equipment.
The summer Olympics just recently ended. Many watched the American gymnastics team accept one medal after another. Many children dreamed of one day, being at the Olympics as a U.S. gymnast. They may have begged their parents to enroll them into a kid?s gymnastics class. Even if your child does not make it to the Olympics, children?s gymnastics classes offer many benefits to young children. It increases their motor skill development, provides them with academic and social success and ensures that they get the recommended amount of daily exercise. Many children gymnasts move onto other sports, which helps them to better succeed in school and in life.


The Lok Sabha passed a Bill that offers untrained teachers teaching in schools time till March 31, 2019, to acquire B.El. Ed (Bachelor of Elementary Education) or D. El. Ed. (Diploma in Elementary Education) qualifications to hold their jobs as teachers.
How it done ?
This was done through an amendment to the Right to Education Act, 2009, as a last chance to such teachers not to lose their jobs. The Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 Bill will now have to pass muster in the Rajya Sabha — and get presidential assent after that — to become an Act.
Need for the Amendment
- Many new schools had come up in the days of educational expansion under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the RTE.
- Many teachers who were hired did not have requisite degrees, some having studied only till school.
- They were given five years to train themselves, and many did, but 5-6 lakh private schools teachers and 2.5-lakh government school teachers still did not have the requisite degrees.
- Qualifications are deemed necessary to ensure that teachers are well-qualified to ensure quality of education.
- Ninety per cent untrained teachers are from eight States.
Source : The Hindu
GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.


Latest Mensa Research Journal explores auditory connections to intelligence
I seem to know instinctively that there must be a correlation between musical ability and intelligence. I decided to see if this was correct. It seems that yes, there is a correlation. You can read what I found in the latest issue of the Mensa Research Journal.
Inside the winter issue
- Association between music education, intelligence and spelling
- Relationship between IQ and musical ability
- Children with cochlear impacts
- Music training and speech perception
- Listening to classical music correlates with spatial reasoning
- Motor timing, music practice and intelligence
One of my favorite TV programs is “On Stage at Curtis.” This show features performances by students at the famous Philadelphia school. I am continually amazed at the amount of talent there. Many of these students are prodigies, and rarely over 20. I was just watching one, Linzi Pan, who, at the age of 11, performed on the piano at the Kennedy Center with a group of other prodigies from Shenzhou, China. Yes, I’m jealous; my mother made me play the accordion. Now we’ll never know if I was a prodigy (I doubt it). I don’t know how these students do academically, but judging by how well-spoken they are when interviewed, I’ll bet they do very well.
The first paper in this latest edition of the Mensa Research Journal, “Associations Between Music Education, Intelligence, and Spelling…” by Hille et al. shows an association in elementary students between those who played an instrument and their intelligence, spelling ability, and cognitive ability. The next article, “Relationship Between IQ and Musical Ability…” by Soleimanifar et al. looks at musical ability and intelligence in children with cochlear implants (CIs). Children with CIs are not exposed to music at an early age. Even after the CI their hearing is far from normal, yet they still showed a connection between IQ and musical ability.
“The Long-Term Effects of Childhood Music Instruction on Intelligence and General Cognitive Abilities” by Eugenia Costa-Giomi is a thorough review that shows the benefits of musical instruction on cognitive abilities. “Music Training and Speech Perception…” by E. Glenn Schellenberg continues the discussion of these benefits.
“Music Training Alters the Course…” by Tierney et al. proposes that music training changes the course of adolescent brain development. Alev Muezzinoglu looks at the impact of music instruction on grade point averages in “The Impact of Music Instrument Grades….” “Predicting Who Takes Music Lessons…” by Corrigall and Schellenberg shows that the duration of music training might be determined by environmental and genetic predispositions.
“Listening to Classical Music Results…” by Bell et al. shows how listening to classical music enhances attentiveness and spatial reasoning. “Associations Between Motor Timing…” by Ullén et al. looks at the effects of motor practice and intelligence on motor timing in a large cohort of twins. “Behavioral and Neural Correlates…” by Zuk et al. looks at the relationship between music training and executive function. They further employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to look at the neural correlates between musically trained and untrained children.
I hope you will find reading this issue as interesting as I did in preparing it.


Research reveals that England’s children have less positive attitudes to reading than other countries, while a third of adults don’t read for pleasure – and this could be affecting wellbeing. [...]
As the National Literacy Trust publishes figures suggesting children are reading less, a variety of projects across the country are working hard to keep books cool and are making it easier to get [...]
The Nepalese government has launched an ambitious new programme which aims to eradicate illiteracy in the country by 2015
MyBnk is a social enterprise whose aim is to increase financialliteracy and to develop young people's enterprise skills by giving them experience of organising a real bank withreal money.
After growing concern about the ever- increasing amount of messages young people receive through modern media such as television and the internet, the organisation, Just Think, was formed to [...]
As well as music skills, the course also helps improve participants' literacy and numeracy skills. 'The course has helped me meet new people and I also like music quite a bit more now,' said 16 [...]


Emotion flashcards are useful for teaching preschoolers to identify their feelings, using diffrent words to express them or helping them recognize and understand other people's feeilngs. Learning empathy as well as self-expression in a supportive environment is very important in early childhood learning.
This fun set of emotion flashcards feature ’emotional robots’ to make this more imaginative and entertaining. Can robots have feelings like people? It’s a fun subject to discuss. Children can use lots of imagination about the feelngs of others and their own in a more entertaining way. You can come up with fun stories about each robot, for example, what could’ve happened to them to make them feel that way. If these robots all know each other, who did what to whom to cause these feelings? Invent your own stories and have lots of fun!


Reading and Language Inventory (5th Edition)
The most comprehensive assessment tool of its kind, this diagnostic battery of tests is easy for busy K-12 teachers to administer and to interpret. The inventory measures both literacy and pre-literacy development and is simple and straight forward to administer. The test battery includes student interest inventories, graded word lists, tests for phonemic awareness and phonics, reader's passages for determining reading and listening levels, measures for oral language, visual and auditory discrimination, and writing and arithmetic subtests. It also provides valid, reliable procedures for individual, in-depth assessment and is easily accessible for English Language Learners. The case studies within this text and ancillary videos accompanying this text equip professors with the means to show students how to administer the inventory and identify the struggling student.
Specifications of Reading and Language Inventory (5th Edition)
|Author||Lois A. Bader|
|Number Of Pages||192|
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What do you think was the finding of the research?
Most of us have heard that learning occurs in a deeper way when learners write down the information. In our own Writing Center at PCCC, we don't allow our consultants to write on student papers. Their comments, suggestions and corrections need to be put on the paper by the student. We strongly feel that this makes the changes clearer and longer-lasting, so that the writer is able to mentally revisit the session when they return to the next draft of that paper.
Almost all of our students bring in typed papers when it is an assignment for a class. Some students bring handwritten work if they are in the early stage or if the assignment is more of the homework variety than a formal assignment.
Everyone seems to value the computer/printed version of a paper more, whether this is conscious or not, especially before we read the words. It "looks better."
James' research has led her to make efforts to raise awareness about the role of handwriting in the learning process. This comes at a time when many K-12 schools nationwide try to decide whether handwriting instruction, particularly cursive, still fits within the curriculum.
Her research used brain imaging technology to document how significant changes in the brain occur depending on whether preschool-age children learn letters by printing or typing. The findings point to the formation of a literary system used for reading -- that is, when letters are printed.
She is also beginning research involving cursive writing with college students. Preliminary results seem to indicate that they remembered information better one week later when they transcribed a paragraph in cursive, compared to printing it (by hand) or using a keyboard.
"These kinds of findings point to there being something really important about printing and potentially also about cursive," said James, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. "These are both fine motor skills, so they might be equally important in understanding cognitive development in children."
Still, the research has not yet determined whether the benefits of teaching cursive outweigh the time spent in students learning it, or the benefits of keyboarding, such as easier revision, access to spelling and grammar checking.
She presented her finding at a summit sponsored by the educational materials company Zaner-Bloser. That's a name I remember from my own days of learning cursive. The company points to a link between handwriting and literacy development. Their "vertical manuscript" has children learning "to write the same letters they see in books, strengthening the reading-writing connection. Learning to print focuses the students' attention on the distinctive shapes and features of letters, leading to improved letter recognition."
Of course, when the word processor first began to enter the classroom, there were many debates about whether or not tools like spelling and grammar checking were good or bad. I heard that "They will learn the rules by seeing the corrections" and "Teachers will get better first drafts" as often as I heard teachers say that "Students will learn nothing if the computer does it for them." I'm not sure that that particular debate has ever been closed, although the word processor is a very solid part of the education process.
Until we have more definitive results, is it safe to conclude that writing down what you are learning - using any method - helps the learner retain information better than just hearing it and trying to remember?
- Handwriting: A Basic Building Block of Literacy - Steve Graham, Ph.D., Senior Consultant for Zaner-Bloser Handwriting, discusses his research which indicates that developmentally appropriate handwriting instruction supports literacy development.
- Handwriting Within the Context of Literacy - looks at trying to increase literacy levels
- How Legible Handwriting Enhances the Writing Process and Assessment


ART HISTORY & VISUAL CULTURE STUDIES
Art History and Visual Culture Studies are two related fields that study art and visual objects created by people from various cultures and parts of the world. Art history is traditionally concerned with the description and interpretation of the fine arts, including paintings, prints, sculptures, and architecture, while Visual Culture Studies also investigates the history and importance of visual communication, photography, graphic design, film, the internet and advertising.
Historians of art and visual culture combine research, knowledge of theory, and analytical skills to present oral, written, and multi-media arguments with clarity and economy. Skills required within the field include:
- interpretive research skills,
- ability to describe and classify accurately and articulately,
- ability to connect objects to their historical contexts,
- critical thinking skills,
- attention to detail,
- intellectual creativity and curiosity,
- appreciation of aesthetics,
- communication skills, including writing, public speaking, and digital publication
- foreign language skills,
- organization skills,
- interpersonal and collaboration skills, and
These skills are desirable in a wide range of careers both in and out of the arts. At Siena Heights, you can develop these skills while investigating a wide variety of art and visual culture.
To impart a broad overview of the history of western civilization, all students in the Studio must select either the history of graphic design or the history of architecture. The History of Graphic Design is required for students majoring in Graphic Design. These courses are offered every other year and open to all students across campus who have completed English 102.
To provide a global perspective, the Non-Western Art course is required for all students majoring or minoring in art history or wanting to pursue a degree in art education and offered every other year.
A menu of four additional lower-level courses is offered periodically and open to any student who has completed English 102. These include Ancient to Medieval Art, Renaissance to Modern Art, American Art, and Film Study and Analysis.
Once you have completed one of the lower-level courses listed above, you may enroll in the following upper-level art history courses: Introduction to Visual Culture, Late 20th-Century Art, History of Photography, and Nineteenth-Century Art. These courses ask you to demonstrate your research and writing skills as you pursue independent research projects. Students majoring in Graphic Design are required to complete Introduction to Visual Culture, while students majoring in Fine Arts must complete Late 20th-Century Art.
A distinctive feature of the Art History degree at Siena Heights is that it is a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and thus requires the student to complete a studio concentration. Students who select to concentrate in Digital Media while pursuing the BFA in Art History will be prepared to contribute to the emerging field of Digital Humanities.
Faculty who teach in the program include:
Professor of Art History Peter Barr, PhD, Boston University
History of Architecture
History of Graphic Design
Ancient to Medieval Art
Renaissance to Modern Art
Neoclassicism to Impressionism
History of Photography
Late 20th-Century Art
Professor of Theater and Speech Communications Mark DiPietro, MFA, Brandeis University
Film Study and Analysis
Assistant Professor of English Matthew Barbee, PhD, Bowling Green State University
Introduction to Visual Culture
Adjunct Instructor Melissa Growden, MA, Bowling Green State University


Discussing Questions about Method when using Art Practice as Research outside Art World
Arts-based and artistic research methods raise questions about validity in research, questions about difference between art as art practice and art as a method in research. Arts-based methods are mainly used in research in art education and in a field of various art practices. Using arts-based research methods is like being a bricoleur, someone putting together parts from here and there and forming a new picture made of old elements.
My presentation has a focus on arts-based research applied to a field of religious studies. I am exploring ideas of early Quakers about heaven (The Kingdom of God / The Peaceable Kingdom) and how those views were expressed in the art works of Edward Hicks (1780 – 1849). My presentation has a strong visual emphasis and claims that visual language can create knowledge that stays hidden in other forms of presentations. I also ask when an image is a work of art and when the same image can be looked upon as either as data or a result of research.


Music theory is the study of how music works. Admission to most programs requires an audition and/or samples of original music. Graduates of a music theory program may pursue a wide range of career choices in the music field, including instrumentalist, composer, conductor or instructor. Bachelor's degree programs in music theory use the study of music history and music theory to train students in composition. Master's and doctoral level programs focus on advanced topics and research. Graduate students usually must be fluent in a language other than English. Courses and programs are available online.
Bachelor's Degree in Music in Theory and Composition
Undergraduate four-year degree programs in music theory and composition teach the basics of music. Students are taught to read and write music, along with performing their own original works. Most universities require applicants to have a high school diploma or equivalent. A school may also ask students to submit an original composition as well as a video of an audition showcasing music instrumentation and skill. Coursework teaches students the fundamental skills to write and compose music as well as the history of music theory and terminology. Other coursework may include:
- Music theory
- Ear training
- Music history
Master's Degree in Theory and Composition
A two-year Master's in Theory and Composition program offers in-depth study of the history of music theory and composition. Applicants must have a 4-year degree in music or theory and composition. Some schools require students to present a portfolio of original compositions and may also request a written statement of purpose.
Proficiency in another language, preferably German, is often a prerequisite for advanced music theory. Classes are taught in seminars and workshops that discuss the study of music and its place in society. Depending on the focus of their coursework, students may select between pursuing a Master's in Music in composition and music theory or a Master's of Arts in musicology concentrating in music theory. Possible coursework includes:
- Music cognition
- Music philosophy
- Music analysis
Find schools that offer these popular programs
- Music Composition and Theory
- Music History and Literature
- Music Merchandising and Management
- Music Pedagogy
- Music Performing
- Musical Conducting
- Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- Piano and Organ
- Stringed Instruments
- Voice and Opera
Doctoral Degree in Music Theory
A Ph.D. in Music Theory further educates professionals who already work in the area of music composition, such as composers and collegiate level music educators, and prepares students to continue to advance their knowledge and abilities. Doctoral applicants are required to have a master's degree in music, submit a portfolio of original compositions, and/or take foreign language or program qualification exams.
Students may be required to participate in dissertation research. A final performance may also be required. Available degrees include a Ph.D. in music concentrating in music theory or a Ph.D. in music theory. Program length varies. Coursework may include advanced topics such as:
- Tonal composition
- Music theory and analysis
Popular Career Options
In addition to music education and administrative positions, those with a bachelor's in music theory may also pursue careers such as:
- Music critic
- Music consultant
- Recording engineer
- Music composer
Those who combine advanced degree work with other course studies can incorporate their studies to career fields outside of music. Other career opportunities include:
- College professor
- Music conductor
- Music composer
- Music transcriber
Employment Outlook and Salary Info
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for music directors and composers in May 2015 was $49,820 (www.bls.gov). Jobs in this field are expected to grow about 3% in the decade spanning 2014-2024.
The BLS reported that that median annual wage of postsecondary educators in the fields of art, drama and music was $65,340 in 2015. For the years 2014 through 2024, the BLS estimated that all postsecondary teachers will see a 13% job growth.
Degrees in music theory can be found at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree levels and may lead to work as a music composer, conductor, critic or engineer. Coursework includes learning music composition skills and music theory and analysis.


Rockademix and The Constitution Song Featured in Teaching Music Magazine
Music can help kids learn academics. When the National Association of Music Education (NAfME) wrote a cover story about using music to teach interdisciplinary studies, they featured Rockademix, a new 501c3 nonprofit educational curriculum created by a unique team of teachers, Grammy Award-winning musicians, professors of education, and artists.
The article “Singing, Playing, and Studying The Blues” that appears in the April 2015 edition of NAfME’s Teaching Music magazine focuses on Rockademix’s use of blues music as a vehicle for teaching academic standards, but Rockademix songs use a variety of musical styles. Math is covered by the hip-hop song “Fractions Rock”, and the boogie-woogie “Apollo 13” teaches science and engineering. The fun, spoof heavy metal song “Big Dogs Beg” teaches short vowel sounds to emerging readers, and “Crossing Midline” (written with the help of special education experts) uses Led Zepellin-inspired power chords and lyrics to help children with special needs develop motor skills, body awareness, and vocabulary. Listen to Rockademix song samples here.
NAfME author Cathy Applefeld Olson talks about how Rockademix uses their new “Constitution Song” (written by Rockademix teacher Jon Schwartz, produced by blues legend/three-time Grammy winner Dennis Walker) to teach academics. Schools using the Constitution Song get the full Rockademix curriculum, complete with dance moves, kid-friendly leveled books written with a history professor, karaoke and how-to-draw art videos, and detailed lesson plans and student activities. The song and materials are even being made available in Spanish.
Because the diverse Rockademix components reach auditory, kinesthetic, visual, and collaborative learners, the program helps teach the whole child. According to Dr. Lori Heisler, Rockademix contributor and assistant professor of education at Cal State San Marcos, “Rockademix works because you’re tapping into children’s brains in a number of different ways. It’s a formula for long-term retention and learning.”
Rockademix is unique in how it is authentically kid-tested. For over 9 months, more than 20 kids ages 4-12 met in the free after school Rockademix program. They all learned together as a class using the Rockademix program, and their input helped shape the development of the materials. Founder Jon Schwartz has credentials in general and special education and has taught grades 1-6 for 15 years in culturally diverse public schools, and he made it his mission to prove that the program would work in any class.
“The Rockademix ‘test class’ was a real class. It was an incredibly diverse group of kids that wasn’t cherry picked. We put out flyers in English and Spanish and welcomed all comers, free of charge. Ironically, the fact that it was free forced us to create a better program. The kids and parents wouldn’t come back if they didn’t like it. We had to make academics through music interesting and doable for kids from kinder and fifth grade, all learning together at the same time. They kids helped us create a program that works for a wide age range.”
Rockademix is now being piloted at Ross Elementary, a culturally diverse school in Topeka, Kansas with over 1200 students. Ross is in the same school district as Monroe Elementary, the national historic site which brought the landmark Supreme Court Case ending segregation in public schools nationwide.
Stacy Neumann, who heads Rockademix implementation at Ross, says “Rockademix is arts integration at it’s finest. It’s an exciting way of instructing students. Addressing every learning style, students sing Rockademix to explore concepts for mastery rather than memorization. Using dancing, singing, and art captures the students’ interest and keeps them involved.” Read more about Ross Elementary’s experience with Rockademix here.
Also, stay tuned for the release of the first Rockademix CD, featuring “The Constitution Song,” and follow Rockademix on Twitter https://twitter.com/Rockademix


Catch up with NUMERACY is an empowering and engaging programme developed specifically for Year 7 students who have not achieved level 4 in maths.
Fun and effective, it takes a fresh look at ways to inspire students and help improve their self-esteem whilst teaching vital numeracy skills.
Catch up with NUMERACY is specifically for Year 7 students who have not achieved level 4.
The workshop can be booked any time during Year 7 – or indeed as a summer school transition course - for groups of up to 30 students in a classroom or venue of your choice.
Importantly funding for this programme is available through the ‘Year 7 Catch Up Premium’.
Building on the momentum created in your school, Catch up with NUMERACY allows students to experience different techniques and discover new ways of achieving maths targets they previously believed to be beyond them.
Since March 2000, schools all over the UK have relied on us to help their students reach their full potential. By using accelerated learning techniques and personal development tools we are able to build student confidence and ability in a fun and supportive environment.
Our courses are designed to help students reflect on their learning and inspire them to reach their targets.
The course comprises mental maths tricks, reflective practice, goal setting, Mind Mapping for shapes and their properties, exercises to reduce mathematical anxiety, multi-sensory maths facts and problem solving using the ‘journey technique’.
To increase mental maths skills and confidence in students of all abilities.
To allow students to understand why they are underachieving and how to reach their full potential.
To motivate students to raise their achievement levels in a positive and focused way.
To enable students to explore different approaches to numeracy.
To inspire students to improve their numeracy skills and to reach their targets.
To improve mathematical problem solving skills.
During the course students will:
• Students were engaged • Set at right level for most students • Good range of numeracy skills practiced


“Why use multimedia in classroom setting in teaching art education”. Please state your opinion or suggestion based on your findings.
“Why use multimedia in classroom setting in teaching art education”. In my point of view, using multimedia in classroom setting helps student to develop faster rather than using traditional method. Various kind of teaching method using multimedia may form a great learning for a classroom learning. Multimedia approach to the students has a great impact towards the understand about art education. Also, multimedia offers the teacher to use a proper tools to create and edit a creative learning exercise which include the elements of text, graphic, sound, video and etc. It develop student imagination and creative thinking skills. Thus, student may experiencing new style of learning that helps them to develop the cognitive process. This way of learning shows that multimedia has it own function in classroom setting in teaching art education.
Resource : http://iite.unesco.org/pics/publications/en/files/3214723.pdf


Children, parents and teachers got together during Child Month in May to help children build skills in learning to read.
Charitable organization Literacy Is For Everyone, or LIFE, ran three one-off workshops at Sir John A. Cumber, George Town and Prospect primary schools.
The Partners in Print workshops are part of a program in which parents, teachers, and children work together to develop skills and strategies to improve the literacy of children aged 4 to 7 years. More than 75 parents and grandparents attended the three workshops.
George Town Primary’s literacy coach, Sarah Douglas, said the program gives educators a chance to “explain and model specific strategies to support literacy development” and gives parents a supportive environment in which to practice the strategies.
Faedrene McLaughlin, a teacher at Sir John A. Cumber Primary, said the program helped parents appreciate the value of reading.
During the school year, LIFE hosted workshops in nine of the 10 government primary schools.
“Seeing the smiling faces on those little kids while pleasing both their parents and their teachers was fantastic,” said LIFE chairman Woody Foster. “Hearing the parents at the end of the event saying that they enjoyed the program and took home some good tips was the icing on the cake.”