Education can play an ambivalent role with regard to conflict. If education is divisive, if schools are themselves violent places, if children are taught to be intolerant of ‘others’ of different ethnicities or religions, then education will do nothing to interrupt cycles of conflict and violence. Yet the right sort of education can be a key part of building or rebuilding a more peaceful society. In a war-torn context, the twin tasks are keeping some sort of education going and making sure that that education helps build resilience to future conflict – and not reproduce it.
What then is this ‘right sort of education’? The first aspect is the basic principle of ‘do no harm’. This means non-violence, no corporal punishment and tackling racism or bullying by students or teachers – a sustained and all-round challenge to the normalisation of violence as a solution to a problem.
It means an inclusive ethos so that no child feels an outsider, and different ethnicities or religions are treated with equal respect. No student leaves with a grievance. Schools that are unwelcoming for girls can be changed dramatically by initiatives such as AET’s Girl Friendly School Spaces, together with their training of ‘School Mothers’ to be mentors and advocates for girls in school. Their peacebuilding programmes in schools foster discussion, acceptance of different points of view and conflict resolution skills. Mother tongue education for the early years builds confidence in learning. All conflict and post-conflict situations are different, and there is no one magic bullet. But attracting and keeping children in a safe, inclusive, rights-based school environment is one basic key to a stable society – as is a non-corrupt and efficient examination system.
This relates to the active inroads into the conditions that surround conflict and extremism– unemployment, mistrust of others, mistrust of authorities, disaffection and gender-based violence. Some educational interventions need to work directly with those already excluded from education – whether refugees, street children or nomadic children. When schools or the education system are shattered, such groups can be targeted with bespoke programmes so that they learn for livelihoods. This is not just a question of their right to education, but an awareness that learning and literacy bring a sense of inclusion and capability which makes people less vulnerable to threat or manipulation.
The target of this particular appeal is within this crucial area of non-formal education: AET’s radio schools and the ‘Speak-Up’ programme. Radio broadcasts and recorded lessons on CDs or MP3s mean that people can access education without having to leave the safety of their homes. AET trainers work with the learners who can gain basic literacy and numeracy skills within six months. Some learners can then enrol in certified courses in their communities to gain qualifications. But school buildings are not needed, and communities can plan the timing and location of lessons so as to be safe and accessible. The lessons are locally developed to address social issues, but also with humorous skits and stories in order to be fun.
Radio schools are low cost and low profile, but with a huge spread of influence. They reach, among others, internally displaced people in camps, those who have missed education because of war or poverty, out of school youth, girls who have been kept at home for safety or to ensure a bride price, and those with disabilities who have difficulty leaving home. The key link to tackling conflict lies in the title: ‘Speak Up’ gives people not just skills but confidence, the confidence to challenge injustice and to feel oneself not as an outsider but as a person with a stake in making a less unequal, less fragmented society.
By Lynn Davis
Lynn Davies is Emeritus Professor of International Education at the University of Birmingham and Co-Director of the social enterprise ConnectFutures. Her interests are in education and conflict, and education and extremism, and she has done research and consultancy in a number of conflict-affected states such as Afghanistan, Bosnia, Angola and Sri Lanka. Work in the UK includes evaluating programmes to counter radicalisation, a project interviewing former extremists about their backgrounds, and training of young people and teachers in preventing violent extremism. Her books include Education and Conflict: Complexity and Chaos (2004), Educating Against Extremism (2008) and Unsafe Gods: Security, Secularism and Schooling (2014). As well as acting as a consultant for UNESCO, she is on the Board of Africa Educational Trust and previously served on the Board of UNICEF UK. In October 2014 she was awarded the Sir Brian Urquhart Award for Distinguished Service to the United Nations and its goals by a UK citizen.


Most people who pursue a degree in music have designs on performing someday. But that’s not the only career path available for those who wish to major in music at Chicago State University. There are plenty of graduates who go on to have long and illustrious careers in just about every facet of the music industry including the business, technology, marketing and management, or recording fields. Teaching is also a large part of working in the industry, imparting wisdom on others whose dreams can only be fulfilled through music. Many professors provide courses to get a master’s in music education online.
Today’s musicians also perform both in the studio and on stage. Some can make a comfortable and lucrative living just by playing an instrument. Others will work a variety of other jobs within a number of different fields in the music industry to make ends meet. If you have a passion for music, pursuing a degree can put you on the road to success and open a multitude of doors that allow you to find your true calling. Like any profession, a degree only provides you with the prerequisite tools that give you the education necessary to work in your chosen field. A music degree can prepare you for almost any career in the industry, but it’s up to you to supplement that education with internships and apprenticeships that can make it easier to pursue these and other career paths.
Artists & Repertoire
Better known as A&R, you can work as a talent scout for a record label or an administrative assistant in an A&R department. It gives you the ability to find the next big star and cultivate his or her talent while making a whole lot of money for the label who signed that act before anyone got to them.
How much do you love going to concerts? Why not be the person who organizes those concerts as well? Some of the top promoters can make millions putting on tours for the biggest names in the industry. A degree in music can teach you the business side of the industry and show you how concert promotions work.
John Williams and Hans Zimmer have become household names as two of the most prolific film composers of all time. But you don’t just have to create music for films, TV shows, video games, and commercials need scores as well. If you’re in high demand within the industry, you can pick and choose your projects, all while building relationships with filmmakers.
You can open your own business selling music and related gear to musicians from the bedroom dreamers to the biggest names in the business. Depending on the type of sales you choose, you may also perform demos to potential clients from retailers to nonprofit organizations.
Music has long been considered a viable form of therapy to help people suffering from a wide range of afflictions, diseases, and disabilities. You can work with patients in helping them overcome anxieties, relieve depression, or rehabilitate after a major health-related incident.


I know you know that I love printables! But sometimes, an activity comes to mind that I don’t want to take the time to create a printable for or that I already have in printable format, but want the experience to be different for my daughter. That is exactly what inspired these DIY Ocean Clip Cards for Counting. We already have an awesome set of counting and matching ocean clips cards from our Ocean Mega Pack, but since Shiloh needs lots of practice counting and improving fine motor skills creating these ocean clip cards with the cute stickers we had was a great alternative!
Materials needed for the DIY Ocean Clip Cards for Counting:
Blue card stock
Ocean themed stickers
Cutting board or scissors
To prep: Cut the blue card stock into six pieces by cutting in half the long way and then in thirds across.
Draw a grid on the bottom portion of the card. Depending on the skill level of your child, you can make two, three or four boxes. I choose three for this set.
Use one box to write the correct answer and any remaining boxes to write other number options.
You can choose sequential numbers, numbers with similar shapes such as 5/2, 7/1, 9/6, 8/0. Each option focuses on a slightly different skill.
Shiloh isn’t ready for making number choices yet, so after pointing and counting on the finished cards, we point out the matching number.
This is a great activity to pair up with some of our favorite ocean books like:
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of the Ocean by Catherine Hughes
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson
More Counting Activities!
More Ocean Learning Activities!
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Odd and Even Number Fishing // Adventures of Adam
Ocean Animal Beginning Sound Clip Cards // The Letters of Literacy
Ocean Counting Mats // Mom Inspired Life
Ocean Felt Busy Box // Teach Me Mommy
Free Ocean Flip Books for All Ages // Simple Learning Kids
Shark Roll and Cover Game // Playdough to Plato
Octonauts Hermit Reef Oil Spill // Tuff Spot Play
Write and Wipe Addition Cards // The STEM Laboratory
DIY Ocean Counting Clip Cards // Life Over Cs
Color Word Clip Cards // The Simplified Classroom
Ocean Sensory Bottle // The Pleasantest Thing
Subitising Fish Game // Fairy Poppins
Salt Water Experiment | Ocean Science for Kids // Science Kiddo
Diving Fish Science Experiment // Schooling a Monkey
Ocean Animal Count and Clip Cards // The Kindergarten Connection
Five Little Fishies Song and Counting Printables // Stay at Home Educator
Ocean I Spy Printable // Powerful Mothering
Color Matching Fish Puzzles // Modern Preschool
Ocean Sensory Bin // Play & Learn Everyday


Although you might wish you could commute to work on a hoverboard, have sushi delivered down a pipe to your desk for lunch, and your clothes were chosen by a robot maid, sadly modern life is yet to provide such miracles.
However, in comparison to life 100 years ago, our lives are delightfully luxurious.
According to Jen Newby, author of Women's Lives: Researching Women's Social History 1800-1939, those born in the last century were more concerned with survival than living standards.
The good old days before cycling shorts
“If you travelled back in time to 1912, you'd probably find yourself out of a job, because many modern industries would not exist and your qualifications would be gobbledygook to potential employer,” says Newby.
“If you're an office worker, then you would be lucky to land a coveted job as a typist or clerical assistant.
Newby says that a century ago, whether you were male or female your career options were entirely dictated by the social class you had been born into.
Without money, connections and a public school education, you would have an uphill struggle.
“While the professions were still open to men -- as long as they were from the 'right' background -- almost all were closed to women. Women could not vote; they did attend universities, but at most institutions could not obtain full degrees; and doctors were still advising against schoolgirls competing with boys in examinations.”
Girton College was England's first residential college for woman, established in 1869.
But if you were lucky enough to get a job, you’d then be forced to interact with the outside world. Not an entirely pleasant experience.
“One of the first things that you'd notice would be the smell of body odour. While we're used to putting on fresh clothes every day, in 1912 this was something that only the wealthy could afford to do," comments Newby.
While a debutante might have changed her clothes three or four times a day, a maidservant was lucky to get a weekly bath, and would have probably shared the water with at least one other person, she explains.
Only the better off enjoyed an indoor toilet, and poorer communities shared brimming, pungent outdoor facilities with the whole street.
Servants were lucky to bath one a week in the last century
And if at this point, you’re thinking -- well, at least they were tight-knit communities filled with laughter, fun and no sense of the 21st work culture -- shake that thought away.
“You would see your leisure time instantly shrink, as most workers, whether factory or office employees, only had Sundays off," says Newby.
However, this might have been a blessing as in most towns there were limited sources of amusement for working people beyond parks, public libraries, the occasional trip to a music hall.
Pubs were the exclusive domain of men, and women were considered of easy virtue if they propped up a bar. The strongest stimulant most working women enjoyed was a cup of tea and a gossip with a neighbour.
Huffpost Lifestyle think that its 100-year-old self might be a tinsy bit bored by this point, especially since women received limited intellectual stimulation.
"The 1870 Education Act had (theoretically) provided a free elementary education for all," says Newby.
"However, families of all classes usually prioritised education for boys. While their brothers were sent away to school, middle class girls might be taught decorative skills by a governess – needlework, music, water colour painting, a little French - skills to catch a husband"
"Working class girls and boys would have stayed on at school until age 13 at most, then gone out to work. There were few scholarships available and most families needed every penny from their children's wages, as a working man couldn't earn enough to support his whole family."
So if people weren't learning, having fun or bathing -- could you hope for a happy marriage?
"Like today, ordinary couples married later in their mid-to-late twenties, when they had saved up enough money to start their own household and the husband earned enough for his new wife to stop work," says Newby.
But, add the author, spinsterhood was undesirable as it would mean financial dependence on your parents for the rest of your life, and probably being used as a free child-minder and nurse by your family.
"Every year hundreds of unmarried women were shipped out on the 'Fishing Fleet' to India, where British men outnumbered women three to one and all but the plainest were snapped up."
Right: we're fine in 2012, thanks!


Some examples of information in an artist's biography are the name of the artist, where the artists lives or works, the type and themes of art produced, and any higher art education. An artist can include other relevant information, such as the artist's history of gallery shows or exhibitions.Continue Reading
More examples of information in an artist's biography are statements about what interested or influenced the artist, any press or media coverage, who the artist's mentors are, and any other art-related work to which the artist contributes. The biography is written in the third person and is concise. The structure is written in such a way that updates to the information are easily included or exchanged. The artist's biography also includes a recent photo of the artist.
While a biography does not necessarily sell art, it does provide information that is of interest to future clients, especially when it includes information about what style or influences the artist incorporates. It is a good idea for the artist to use another artist's biography as a reference or to ask another respected artist to read the biography and make suggestions. Most of the time, a well-written biography is used for multiple websites or forums that require a little information before the artist can participate.Learn more about Writing


Augustin Jean Fresnel Facts
The French physicist Augustin Jean Fresnel (1788-1827), through his analysis of interference, diffraction, and polarization, turned the wave theory of light into an integral part of exact physical science.
Augustin Jean Fresnel was born in Broglie on May 10, 1788. He received his elementary education on the family estate in Mathieu, Normandy, where his father, Jacques Fresnel, an architect, took refuge during the stormiest years of the Revolution. At the age of 16 Fresnel entered the École Polytechnique, where he excelled in mathematics but made little progress in physics. Following his graduation, Fresnel worked as an army engineer. In Nyons in early 1815, during the Hundred Days, he joined a group of royalists, and in the end he was decommissioned and sentenced to confinement. Because of ill health he was permitted to live in Normandy with his mother.
Fresnel began his research on light by attempting to understand the polarization of light, about which he read by chance in the newspaper. His knowledge of the subject was woefully inadequate, and not much better was his familiarity with physics in general. However, Fresnel persevered with his readings and carried out some experiments with simple apparatus. The first thing to be explained by the wave theory of light was the apparent failure of light waves to bend around a "corner" or edge, at complete variance with the behavior of water waves and sound waves. Fresnel showed that from the wave theory there followed a slight bending, and that it had to manifest itself in a succession of dark and luminous bands at the edge of the shadow. Most importantly, his mathematical formalism of the wave theory of light could predict the exact width of each of those bands. Fresnel did not have a lens of short focal length, which he needed for the experimental verification of his theory. He found that an ingeniously suspended drop of honey would do the job!
Significance of Fresnel's Theory
Fresnel's Memoirs, which contained these important results together with his wave theory of light, were deposited at the Academy of Sciences in October 1815. According to the theory, the longitudinal waves, assumed by previous investigators such as Thomas Young, were replaced by transverse waves. Shortly afterward, Fresnel extended his idea of light as being the transversal vibration of an elastic medium (ether) to the problem of polarization. His ideas produced both admirers and opponents, but the theory had an unqualified effect on all future considerations of the geometrical and photometrical aspects of light and its relationship with space and matter. For this work Fresnel was elected in 1823 to the Academy of Sciences, and in 1825 he became a foreign member of the Royal Society of London, which in 1827 awarded him the Rumford Medal.
It was rare in the history of science that a most influential and solidly developed theory should emerge within a few years and in the hands of a newcomer to physics. Such a short span of time was also symbolic of the short life-span allotted to Fresnel. But those few years cast a long shadow on the subsequent history of physics. A starting point for modern relativistic physics was Fresnel's prediction of the change in the speed of light in moving media. The modern photon theory of light is also a development that left intact the validity of his basic insights into the mathematical formalism that alone can account for the most common features of the propagation of light.
Although Fresnel's health was rapidly deteriorating, he worked on the improvement of lighthouse lanterns. He replaced metal reflectors and thick lenses with lenses built from annular rings, the centers of curvature of which varied progressively and consequently eliminated spherical aberration. He also combined a fixed and a flashing light as a means of increasing the intensity of the light periodically. He died at Ville-d'Avray near Paris on July 14, 1827.
Further Reading on Augustin Jean Fresnel
The most complete work on Fresnel is in French. A lengthy and informative eulogy of Fresnel is available in François Arago, Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men (trans., 2 vols., 1859). The standard presentation of the full impact of Fresnel's ideas about light on 19th-century physics is in E. T. Whittaker, A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity, vol. 1 (1910; rev. ed. 1951).


Do you sometimes struggle with memorizing a piece of music? Consider that memorization can actually be a natural process, and you may be memorizing your music without even knowing it!
are several commonly used methods for music memorization. Most
successful memorizers are probably using a combination of methods
including “rote memorization,” “repetition,” and “silent study.” I would
like to introduce the concept that memorization can come quite
naturally. Consider the following true story:
In 1970 I was a member of my university’s symphonic band. On one occasion we had
traveled several hours to perform an hour long concert. Upon arrival it
was discovered that our music folders had been left behind. What were
we to do? Our director made a decision; we were to perform the concert
from memory! We had never before played any of the music from memory -
we never imagined it would be necessary. But yes, the 90+ members of the
symphonic band assembled on stage and played a full hour long concert
totally from memory.
how were we able to pull it off? That’s simple. We had rehearsed and
performed the music so many times that we didn’t really have to
rely on sheet music. We had memorized it without even intending to. It
was a “natural” result of having played it so many times.
If memorization is a struggle for you, try this experiment:
Play One Phrase
the piece you’re working on and select one phrase. Play that section of
music repeatedly while reading the music. Don’t think about memorizing
it. Just play it and listen intently to what you’re playing. It’s important to use your ears.
to look away from the sheet music for a measure, then two measures,
then three or four. Just let it happen. We have a natural ability to
remember things we do repeatedly.
your aural memory to help remember what the music sounds like and then
reproduce it naturally. Test yourself and try again and keep trying
until you succeed.
learning long pieces, some people do better by working from the end of
the music back to the beginning. In other words, play an entire section
repeatedly and each time through, look away from the sheet music a
measure earlier while continuing to the end from memory.
Sooner than you think, you’ll be playing the entire piece from memory. Yes, it takes repetition.
using your natural ability to perform music “by ear” can help speed the
process. Whether you’re learning saxophone, piano, clarinet or any
other instrument, be sure to ask your teacher for their tips and tricks. That’s exactly the sort of thing they can help you with!
Is there a memorization system that works for you? Share your tips in the comments!
Wayne Land is
a virtuoso saxophonist with over 45 years of teaching and playing
experience and two degrees in music education. Book an online saxophone lesson with Wayne in The ZOEN.


Here at Esker Educate Together National School, we currently have fifteen classes - from Junior Infants to sixth class. We have over twenty teachers teaching almost four hundred children.
The curriculum of Esker Educate Together School, like that of all Primary Schools in the Republic of Ireland, is laid down by the Department of Education and Science.
Esker Educate Together School aims to create a warm and stimulating environment so that each child may work towards realising his/her highest potential. Parents, children and teachers are on first name terms, which creates a relaxed and informal atmosphere for everyone. In co-operation with parents, the school will work to instil feelings of self-confidence, self-awareness and self-respect in the children.
Within the parameters of the Primary School Curriculum, the objectives are as follows:
- The achievement of academic excellence for each child according to his/her individual potential.
- The promotion of cultural enrichment.
- There are 12 subjects in the curriculum that are taught at every level in the school. All subjects are taught in this school.
As with all state primary schools, the following subjects are studied at all class levels: English, Irish, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, Physical Education (PE), Visual Arts, Music, Drama and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). Copies of the Primary School Curriculum are available at www.ncca.ie and public libraries.
In addition, children also study Ethical Education, which is in line with our multidenominational ethos. Further details about the Ethical Curriculum followed by the school can be found on the Educate Together website.
The Ethical Education Curriculum
In an Educate Together school, the daily period of time set aside for the patron’s religious education programme is used to deliver our Ethical Education Curriculum. This programme is called the Learn Together curriculum and is published by Educate Together. It is subject to review and development by the Education Committee and decisions at Annual General Meetings of the organisation. A copy of the curriculum is available from the school or from Educate Together.
The programme is divided into four strands ‘Moral and Spiritual Development’, ‘Justice and Equality’,‘Belief Systems’ and ‘Ethics and the Environment’. The curriculum specifically addresses the Educate Together ethos and it is here that the values that the school seeks to model in its ‘characteristic spirit’ are articulated and explained in greater depth.
In the strand called ‘Belief Systems’, the programme explains and explores the major belief systems in the world in an educational manner, teaching children about these faiths and beliefs without endorsing any particular one as religious truth. During the year, an Educate Together school may mark - in an age appropriate way - festivals such as Chinese New Year, Easter, Bealtaine, Hindu Festival of Lights (Diwali), Harvest Festivals, Samhain (Halloween), Ramadan and Eid, Hannuka and Christmas. The programme allows the school to explore the similarities and differences with the older celebrations that underlie many of these festivals. Examples would be the Celtic festivals and practices that underpin Easter or the solstice festivals that occur around Christmas.
It is normal that the treatment of these events becomes integrated into the whole school programme, involving drama, art, music, history and geography and also in many cases, parental and community participation. This may mean exploring wider cultural themes such as cuisine and family celebrations.
The educational aim of this work is to model positive information about world faiths in a respectful atmosphere which highlights rights and responsibilities.
In addition to offering the ethical education programme, the Board of Management of Esker Educate Together enable any group of parents who wish to use the facilities of the school outside school hours, to organise specific doctrinal instruction classes.


Communication, Language and Literacy Development – What Parents Can do to Help
Communication, language and literacy, social and emotional development is one of the six areas of learning that parents and early years educators need to cater to during the vital first years of life. Communication skills are a fundamental aspect of life and govern the formation of relationships. Learning depends on communication skills, not just speech, but gestures, signing, facial expressions and body movements.
New babies develop rudimentary communication skills with the people around them, parents and grandparents, caregivers and siblings. In the first weeks of life it’s important to communicate with baby as much as possible. Baby may not understand the words but is familiar with the sound of your voice and the more you talk, the more baby will listen. Use lots of eye contact and hand movements and this will help with baby’s eye development.
There’s no need to feel silly, you can talk to your baby all day long about the things you do, the places you go, no matter how mundane – this is how baby begins to make sense of his/her environment. Make funny noises and sing rhymes and songs, especially repetitive ones with hand movements – you’ll soon have baby smiling and then chuckling away. Smiling and laughter are more forms of communication and singing and silly noises and fits of giggles are a great way of enabling baby to join in from a very early age.
Help baby develop a love for books by reading to him/her from a very early age (see this recent blog post – it’s never too young to start!). Set aside a quiet time each day for reading – perhaps after bath and before bed, a great way of winding down. Explore all sorts of books – when baby is too young for stories, just talk about the pictures in the books. Use different types of books – board books, textured books and sound books to encourage baby to get involved and join in.
Encourage baby’s drawing (pre-writing) skills by offering a range of mark making tools, water, paint and crayons are great ways to let chubby little fingers develop some fine motor skills and hand-eye co-ordination.
Helping your baby with communication skills of all kinds will pay dividends in the future as your child grows into a confident and communicative young adult.


The Tuneables is an award-winning children's music education DVD and CD series designed to teach the key building blocks of music at a critical time in a child's development. Sponsored by the Music Intelligence Project, this fun, interactive program engages children in songs and activities that provide a foundation of music understanding and growth in intellectual development. Ages 3-8.
Buy your copy today at: www.thetuneables.com/the-music-shop/
Engaging young children in music experiences can have a strongly positive influence on their intellectual development. But you have to be smart about choosing what experiences produce the best result. The key consideration is to make sure the children are actively involved—focused listening, singing, moving rhythmically, playing simple instruments, and forming musical concepts—all with the aim of producing a musical result and knowing that it happened.
The research shows that this multi-sensory and multi-cognitive engagement is what makes you smarter. This means that music programs for young children should actively engage children in musical activities that go beyond passive listening or observing.
Parents can be smart about their young children’s music instruction by choosing instructional materials and programs that are carefully sequenced to provide age-appropriate challenges for music learning and musical skills development. Such experiences provide the foundation for continued intellectual development in music and other cognitive areas.
active aural music learning beat accuracy benefits of music brain development children development developmental effect early music educations, early music learning holiday gifts for young children instruction intelligence learning music skills listening to background music movement music activities musical gifts music and language music education music for kids music for young children music instruction in brain development music intelligence music learning music playlist for kids playlist for kids research rhythm singing singing in tune smart song list for children stages of music learning stimulate brain development substantive music learning teaching young children music the tuneables tonality tonal patterns top children's songs top classical songs for kids voice flexibility young children


The curriculum of the Music Education major offers the most versatile music education: from classical to pop, from instrumental to vocal, from interpretation to teaching. The Institute’s work is organised and carried out by the Music Education Institute of EAMT, with a slogan both cordial and ambitious: Closer to great music! The Institute values its students and helps their development from the musical, personal and pedagogical standpoint. The curriculum includes learning a musical instrument (piano, recorder, small Estonian harp, rhythm music instruments), conducting, vocal arrangement and vocal improvisation, as well as arrangement, solfeggio and pop-jazz solfeggio, and provides various opportunities to perform with other students. Discussions cover different schools of general and music pedagogy (including Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze). Another strength of the department is the active and unified student community that organises many kinds of events.
The Institute welcomes high school graduates, who have learnt and can play a musical instrument, and who wish to become inspiring music teachers. The music education curriculum in EAMT creates a wonderful opportunity for those, who wish or need to influence the future society through teaching music to children and others. Many of our graduates work as music teachers in schools of general education, as choral conductors, and traditional and pop-rock-jazz music teachers in music schools.
Majors and curricula
Degree studies are conducted based on curricula established by the EAMT Council. Curriculum means the source document for studies which sets out, among other things, the objectives of the studies to be undertaken, the standard period and volume of study as well as the list of subjects with their respective volumes in credit points. Curricula are established on the assumption that the standard volume is 30 ECTS per semester and 60 ECTS per academic year.
Each curriculum consists of various modules and subjects. A course description is developed for each subject, which includes important information about the subject: objectives, learning outcomes, volume, evaluation criteria and so on. Students are strongly recommended to become familiar with the course description at the beginning of each course.
The curriculum may comprise multiple narrower fields of study. Applying for admission to a master’s curriculum in another field may require completing prerequisite subjects during bachelor studies.
More information in February 2017


The Strongest Bridge: Akashi Kaikyo
While talking about bridges, how we can forget Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It is known as the strongest and longest suspension bridge in the world with a length of 12,831 feet. This bridge is also called ‘Pearl Bridge’. Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is located in Japan and serves as a link between the city of Kobe and Iwaya. This four miles wide bridge has six lanes. The construction of this bridge started in 1988 and took 10 years to complete.
Quick Facts: –
- Approximately two million workers worked for 10 years to construct this bridge. This construction used 180,000 tonnes of steel and 1.4 million cubic metres of concrete.
- This bridge has three different records: – the strongest, longest and most expensive suspension bridge in the world.
- Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is a typhoon region in which winds can reach speeds of 290 kmph.
- The total length of cables used in the construction of this bridge is about 300,000 kilometres.
- This bridge has been designed to withstand earthquakes and harsh sea condition. The Kobe earthquake of January 1995 is the best example to show the strength of this bridge.
- This bridge was under construction when this earthquake struck the country. Magnitude of this earthquake was 7.2
- The total cost of Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was $4.3 billion.
- On an average, about 25,000 cars pass on it every day.
- Now it has become a tourist attraction of the country as two amazing parks named as Maiko and Asagiri have been built near the bridge.
- It was a challenge for Japanese engineers to build a bridge like this because Japan is located in the Ring of Fire. Chances of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are more than any other area.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Akashi Kaikyo Bridge Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Aug 2017. Web. 20 Aug 2017. < http://easyscienceforkids.com/the-strongest-bridge-akashi-kaikyo/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2017). Akashi Kaikyo Bridge Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from http://easyscienceforkids.com/the-strongest-bridge-akashi-kaikyo/
Sponsored Links :


This inferences product contains 34 task cards, two instructional pages with examples and explanations of making inferences (anchor charts), answer sheets, and answer keys. Half of the inference task cards contain passages and the other half includes keyword lists that requires students to make inferences about the event or place (as well as add two keywords to the list of inferences). Adding keywords to the list encourages students to use inferencing skills at a deeper level.
Please click on the preview to see a sample of the task cards and send me a message if you have any questions!
Please note that there are TWO additional INFERENCES products available in my store here (you can also purchase all three products in a bundle at a discount). Here are the links:
MAKING INFERENCES PRINTABLES AND RIDDLES
MAKING INFERENCES USING PICTURES
MAKING INFERENCES BUNDLE
You may also be interested in these Language Arts products:
TASK CARD PRODUCTS
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE PRODUCTS
CHARACTER TRAITS PRODUCTS
Sign up for access to my EXCLUSIVE FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY AND NEWSLETTER.
For updates on new products and product specials, follow me:
MY TPT STORE
Kirsten has 18 years of experience in elementary education. She has been a homeroom teacher for first grade, third grade, and fourth grade, as well as ESL. She has also been a school counselor for grades PK-6, an ESL pullout teacher for K-6, and a Reading Recovery Teacher. She received her Bachelor’s degree in elementary education and psychology from The University of Iowa and a Master’s of Education in school counseling from Sam Houston State University. She believes that students make the most progress when they are engaged in their hearts as well as their minds. Her resources offer relevant, rigorous, engaging content that nurtures the whole child.
Copyright © Kirsten’s Kaboodle. All Rights Reserved.
• Purchasing this product gives the purchaser ONE LICENSE to this product. This allows the purchaser the right to reproduce this product for HIS/HER class ONLY.
• Duplication for an entire team, school, or school district is strictly forbidden.
• If other teachers would like copies of this product, please direct them to my store.
• You may not reproduce, redistribute, or post this item on a blog or website for download (free or paid).
• Copying any part of this product (even for a classroom website) is also in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
• You may not modify, copy, or alter this product in any way.
• Please feel free to spread the word about this product via social media or blog post. A link to the product (or my store) is much appreciated.


For most of us, education is the solid foundation to life. It teaches us, it nurtures us, it inspires us. Education can set us on the path that defines our adult lives and our careers.
But not everybody is fortunate enough to receive the type of education that many of us take for granted. Jesuit Social Services works with many marginalised members of our society, including people in and exiting prison.
The links between education and disadvantage – not just prison – are clear. Across all of our programs (in areas including justice, employment and training and mental health), just 13 per cent of people have completed high school and many have exposure to issues such as substance abuse and family violence.
It is a similar picture within the prison system in Victoria, Australia, where Jesuit Social Services is headquartered, and where just six per cent of male and 14 per cent of female prisoners have completed secondary school or higher education.
We know that without the foundation of education, many vulnerable people can find themselves dealing with a web-like structure of disadvantage. For example, a lack of education makes finding employment more difficult which in turn can lead to housing insecurity or homelessness, mental health problems or criminal activity.
Victoria’s recidivism rate is also at a 10-year high of almost 40 percent, meaning close to half the people who exit prison return. This comes at a significant cost to the state’s budget, and also at the expense of vital community services such as education, housing and mental health that work to prevent crime before it occurs. In order to break this cycle of disadvantage, poverty and lack of opportunities, we have partnered with Victoria’s correctional system and other community service organisations to create supported pathways into education, into community, and into employment for people who have been engaged with the justice system.
We work with men and women leaving prison to support them to identify their work opportunities and what they need to do to obtain a new position and to maintain their employment. With funding support provided by the Sisters of Charity in Australia, we also provide women exiting prison with one to one mentoring and support to re-enter their family and community life.
In addition to this we have assisted more than 400 people who have received a community work order in place of a prison term to not only contribute positively to the community, but to also improve their skills so that they have better opportunity to undertake further education or employment .
Our focus is on practical, hands-on project work with flexible assessment strategies to accommodate the various learning styles and needs of participants. We also employ skilled and qualified trainers and volunteers, who are carefully matched to each program. These programs help participants to gain real-world skills and qualifications that will assist them to find ongoing employment – in addition to the valuable experience they receive in working as part of a team, collaborating with others and developing a healthy routine.
Two examples of such programs are:
Fix the Cycle is a program for young men aged 18 to 25, who have had contact with the criminal justice system. Participants help to repair and assemble bicycles, which are later donated to community members in need, while developing mechanical skills, problem solving, planning and literacy and numeracy skills. Units of competency are also embedded into the program to formalise skills and learnings and create pathways to further employment. The Dandenong Drug Court Project is a community work program for adult men on community service orders. Participants work as a team to landscape the Drug Court’s garden and local surroundings, and like Fix the Cycle, units of competency are embedded into the program. As well as training in landscaping and horticulture, participants develop skills in teamwork and project management.
To understand how these programs literally change lives, we only need to look at the example of a young man who engaged with Fix the Cycle and gained ongoing employment as a motor mechanic at a major car dealer in addition to completing an apprenticeship. He says “my participation in the program gave me discipline, taught me about fixing things and mechanics and the importance of being on time.”
These are just two examples of innovative programs in which we partner with some of the most vulnerable members of the community, ensuring that their pathway out of prison and into the community is a positive one.
About the author: Julie Edwars is CEO of Jesuit Social Services, an Australian social change organisation working to build a just society. Julie was appointed the leader of the Core Group of the Mineral Resources GIAN in 2012.


Steps is an effective, easy-to-use, computer-based literacy development program suitable for all levels, from early readers to adults – as well as English language learners.
While Steps looks like fun (it is!), it is a serious learning tool which develops all aspects of literacy, including vocabulary, comprehension and verbal reasoning.
Steps is used by over 800 schools, and by many SPELD tutors.
The Home Edition is designed for any parent who wishes to support their child’s learning, including home-schoolers. It can also be used by an adult wishing to develop literacy skills, learn specific vocabulary, or improve English skills.
What makes Steps different?
Steps is a highly structured, multi-sensory literacy approach, which is based on sound educational principles
- Every activity is research-based (including the games!)
- All activities are cumulative and build all the skills and knowledge needed for literacy
- Automatic revision is provided
- Click here to see a summary of all the activities in Steps and what their purpose is
Steps is not age-specific.
- Steps caters for learners from 5 years of age to adult
- Starting points are based on literacy level, not age
Steps is the only literacy program which is completely customizable
- Enter your own wordlists to reinforce schoolwork or workplace needs
- Build complete courses to support your school’s curriculum areas
Steps will advise you where to start (courses options)
- Steps will assess your literacy level and start you at the right point on the courses
- You can also ‘dip into’ the program in any way that suits you
Steps provides a complete range of supporting resources
- Specialist workbook-based literacy courses directly reinforced by Steps
- Extensive range of game/activity resources for school or home use
- Printable resources from Steps


Essentials 1st Edition
On sale while supplies last!
Second edition is here!
The SCIENCE of Reading and the ART of Teaching
The Logic of English® Essentials curriculum uses proven, research-based methods to teach students ages 7 to adult to read, spell, and write successfully. Easy to use, engaging, and fun, Essentials improves the spelling and reading skills of all learners by providing linguistically accurate phonics instruction, fluency practice, morphology and vocabulary development, grammar, and composition.
For every learner and every teacher
Clear instructions and scripted lessons allow teachers, tutors, and parents to learn alongside their students, developing their own understanding of the structure of English as they teach. Multi-sensory instruction and a variety of multi-sensory exercises allow teachers to customize the curriculum for the needs of their students, paving the way to success in reading for all kinds of learners.
First edition of Essentials is on sale!
Essentials Teacher's Manuals, 1st Edition are now on sale.
Special closeout price while supplies last:
Printed book: $45.
Take a video tour of Essentials 1st edition.
This high definition video is best viewed full size.
You will need...
- Essentials Teacher's Manual, 1st Edition
- Essentials Student Workbook(s), 1st Edition
- Spelling Journal
- Basic Phonogram Flash Cards
- Spelling Rule Flash Cards
- Grammar Rule Flash Cards
- Advanced Phonogram Flash Cards
- Phonogram and Spelling Game Book
- Phonogram Game Cards
- Phonogram Game Tiles
- Phonogram & Spelling Rule Quick Reference Chart
- Spelling Analysis Card
- Optional: The Essentials Reader (Reading comprehension supplement)


About Music Education: Building Bridges: Research and Practice in Aural Skills Training
Thursday 10 August 2017
Level 2, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Sydney NSW
Nearly twenty years ago, David Butler and Mark Lochstampfor lamented that “there is very little correspondence between research activities in music cognition and pedagogical activities in aural training.” Indeed, they could have more broadly complained that much of what appears in aural skills textbooks and is practiced in aural-skills classrooms is remarkably insulated from research of any kind. But what can research into music cognition, learning, and music theory tell us about how we might approach aural training? In this talk, I will explore what research in science and music can do to inform our work as we teach the various activities often lumped under the rubric “aural skills.” For example, short-term musical memory plays important roles in the skills necessary to take melodic dictation. Memory for individual pitches, melodic memory, and extractive memory all contribute to various levels of achievement and diverse kinds of difficulties in our students’ listening work. But unless we are keenly aware of the different ways that these memory behaviors can affect student achievement, and unless we have reliable methods of diagnosing individual students’ strengths and weaknesses in each of these behaviors, we have little hope of implementing appropriate and efficacious remedial activities in order to improve their listening skills. Likewise, our choices of solmization systems seem to be rooted in geography, culture, and personal experience, but rarely do we ask what the cognitive bases for inflicting syllables on our students might be. Different solmization systems can serve very different purposes depending on the mental constructs we wish to model with such systems, and we should be cognizant of these purposes before deciding to inculcate our students with any particular system. Similarly, we pass on colloquial advice about “looking ahead” while sight reading, without once consulting the scientific literature on the eye movements that music readers exhibit. Some of what this literature tells us confirms our informal assumptions, but it also provides us with some surprising insights that can help our students develop better sight reading skills. Other such topics include pulse inference, tonic inference, and absolute pitch acquisition. I will examine the various ways research on these and other skills can inspire our teaching.
Join us for refreshments and to continue the conversation afterwards.
More information – music.sydney.edu.au/research/about-music-education-lectures
Gary S. Karpinski is Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Music Theory program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Oregon, Brooklyn College, and Temple University. Karpinski is a past president of the New England Conference of Music Theorists, and has served as President of the Association for Technology in Music Instruction, as Board Member for Music Theory in the College Music Society, and on the board for the Music Theory Society of New York State. He was Chair of the Society for Music Theory Pedagogy Interest Group, and also served as Chair of the SMT Mentoring Program. His research interests include music theory pedagogy, aural skills acquisition, music cognition and perception, early twentieth-century music, and Schenkerian analysis. Professor Karpinski is the author of two textbooks that have just been released in second editions by W. W. Norton: the Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing and the Anthology for Sight Singing, which also include an Anthology Search website, an extensive Instructor’s Dictation Manual, and nearly 700 recordings. His seminal monograph Aural Skills Acquisition was published by Oxford University Press, and he was also the editor of the Festschrift for George Perle. Karpinski has published articles on aural skills, music theory pedagogy, early twentieth-century music, and music cognition in Music Theory Spectrum, Music Theory Online, The International Journal of Musicology, and The Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy.
- Free entry, registrations are required


The early years of a child’s life are crucial when it comes to education, and this is a time at which information can most effectively be absorbed. In order to ensure that our children – the future of our society – get the best education possible, it is vital that appropriately qualified, skilled, and knowledgeable educators are available to provide this knowledge and development and deliver it in the most effective way.
An Early Childhood Education Degree offers the ideal solution for those wanting to get into a career in childhood teaching. This can be a very rewarding and enjoyable career, but it is essential that you have the necessary skills and qualifications to enter this career. You will help youngsters to learn and develop skills and knowledge, helping them to succeed and shaping their future. An Early Childhood Education degree will give you the skills and knowledge required to enable you to do this effectively.
Early childhood learning is a specialist area of education requiring specialist skills, which is what you can develop through an Early Childhood Education program. These degrees are ideal for those that want to work with younger children and provide a valuable service in education. With an Early Childhood Education degree you can look forward to a rewarding career in this area and you can improve your chances of progression within childhood education.
You can get different levels of Early Childhood Education degree programs, and the one you take will depend upon your current qualifications and eligibility. You will find a range of institutions offering Early Childhood Education degree programs, and you can also take an Early Childhood Education degree program online.
You will find that these degrees cover a wide range of issues relating to childhood education, from development and growth to learning methods and communication.


Welcome and enjoy this forum for sharing and celebrating arts education in Nebraska. When posting or commenting, please give your name and where you teach.
The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy DevelopmentKathy Danko-McGhee and Ruslan Slutsky present a compelling look at the link between children's artwork and literacy development in this easy-to-read, indispensable primer for parents and educators alike. By providing a range of art experiences and alternative ways to teach children critical thinking and visual perception skills, Danko-McGhee and Slutsky paint a vivid picture of the role that the visual arts play in early childhood development. The two examine the need for new thinking and a departure from traditional literacy exercises: "It is clear that a pedagogical shift must take place in our homes and schools if we are to meet the literacy needs of today's young learners. This requires thinking 'out of the box' and coming up with new ways to deal with an old problem." The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy Development lays the foundation for rethinking the way that we engage young children in early literacy learning."Kathy Danko-McGhee and Ruslan Slutsky have opened up the definition of literacy, analyzing the many components of what literacy means at each of the recognized developmental stages for children aged 0 to third grade. The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy Development shows, through vivid examples, how language arts skills and visual arts skills are intimately linked."Cathy Weisman TopalStudio Art Teacher: Smith College Campus School and Center for Early Childhood EducationLecturer in Visual Arts Education: Department of Education and Child StudySmith College, Northampton, MA__________________________________________________ORDERING:Orders for The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy Development and other NAEA publications may also be placed by calling our toll-free number, 800-299-8321, or browsing NAEA Publications online:http://www.naea-reston.org/publications.html.Nonmembers - $29.00 plus S/H* NAEA Members - $23.00 plus S/H**Shipping/handling for online orders includes a surcharge:
$2.50 for 1-5 books, $.50 per book over 5 books
I have this book and have really enjoyed it. I love critical thinking type of projects, which are sometimes hard to do with the little ones. This book is full of wonderful projects and the reasons why we should teach them. I highly recomend it.
The authors will be in New Orleans for a book signing. NAEA members Kathy Danko-McGhee and Ruslan Slutsky will sign copies of their new book, The Impact of Early Art Experiences on Literacy Development during the 2008 NAEA National Convention at the NAEA Bookstore located on the second floor, room 207, of the Convention Center Friday, March 28, from 12:00-2:00 pm. Bob, LPS
Post a Comment


These oh so cute snowball shooters are a snap to make and are a hilariously fun way to explore some key concepts in physics. They are the perfect compliment to our Force and Motion Activity Pack!
To make each snowball shooter, we grabbed:
- Toilet paper tube
- White paper (I used cardstock for durability)
- Glue Stick
- Tape (optional)
- White pom poms or cotton balls
- Washi Tape, Ribbon, or fabric scraps (optional, for embellishment)
First, I cut an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper into four pieces that were each 4.25 in x 5.5 inches.
Then the kids and I drew a snowman face and buttons on the middle of each piece of paper.
Next, we flipped the paper over, used the glue stick to cover the back, and glued it to the toilet paper tube.
I secured the seam with a piece of tape. Of course, no snowman is complete without a scarf! We used washi tape and some felt scraps to add a little coziness to our snowmen.
Finally, I tied off the end of a white balloon, cut the very tip off the top, stretched it over the bottom of the toilet paper tape, and the snowballs were ready to fly.
We made our first few using the white balloon for the bottom so our snowmen could “blow their tops” as my 7 year old said. But using a colored balloon as a hat for the top of the snowman works too and is guaranteed to get a lot of giggles when the snowman shoots snowballs out his behind!
Playing with the Snowman Shooters
Just playing with the shooters had my kiddos explore several concepts in physics: gravity, energy, and principles of angle, trajectory, and velocity.
They figured out that the more they pulled back on the balloon, the further the pom pom flew.
Then they tried perfecting their aim by banking the pom poms off the ceiling to hit each other.
After awhile, my 4 year old started testing other small items to see how they flew. Little did he know he was exploring how weight affects a projectile. Take away all the giggles, and you’ve got an afternoon of angles and trajectories, mass and velocity, geometry and physics.
Continue the Fun!
Grab our Force and Motion Activity Pack and then scroll down to find even more snowman activities for kids!
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Exploding Snowman Baggie: Winter Snow Science for Kids // Science Kiddo
Snowman Number Match Printable // A Dab of Glue Will Do
Preschool Snowman Activity Pack // Schooling a Monkey
Snowball Shooter // The STEM Laboratory
Snowman Teen Number and Ten Frame Match // Recipe for Teaching
Snowman Subtraction Mats // The Kindergarten Connection
Snowman Alphabet Activity // Mom Inspired Life
Snowman Writing Paper with Prompts // Liz’s Early Learning Spot
Snowman Printable Fact Family Activity // DIY Farm Wife
Snowman Pattern Block Mats // Playdough to Plato
Snowman Sequencing Fun // Sara J Creations
Snowman Sight Word Search // Adventures of Adam
Winter Snowman Ten Frame Printable // Fun with Mama
Snowman Rhyming Puzzles // Fairy Poppins
Snowman CVC Word Match // Letters of Literacy
Two Digit Number Snowmen // Play & Learn Everyday


Have you ever been grateful for something good you received that you wanted to return the favor? That may be one of the reasons for choosing a career in education, besides the fact that teachers will always be needed.
Before they can impart knowledge and wisdom to others, all potential teachers must first undergo training. Here’s a quick look at what future instructors can expect from a course in education.
The term “education” is a very general one; a number of courses fall under this comprehensive field: elementary education, middle childhood education, education for people with special conditions (SPED) are but some of the offerings on the table.
Generally, students can look forward to an eclectic kind of training. Subjects such as history, mathematics, sciences, and even music and composition may be part of the education curriculum. Languages (both English and the vernacular), coupled with child development and education courses per se, help round out the training.
Teachers Take Exams, Too
If you’ve ever stressed over exams, take heart: you’re not alone. The very teachers who administer and proctor your exams have gone through that, too. One particularly important exam they need to take is the Licensure Exam.
In a nutshell, the said exam measures the ability of potential teachers and separates the wheat from the chaff. It may be likened to the Bar for lawyers or the Board exam for medical professionals.
If you’re considering a teaching profession, then I leave you with this in closing: it’s said that all human relationships are either teaching or learning experiences. Perhaps it is the truly capable teacher who does both.


What did you mean when you said a good practice incentive should include student options?
One of the primary purposes of a practice incentive is to motivate students to practice. And what better way to do that than to let them choose what they are going to practice? As teachers, we have to tap into what students actually want to achieve with their piano studies in order to develop assignments that will help them reach their goals. However, as teachers we also have a better idea than our students of what will contribute to their overall music education. So, if we want them to become well-rounded musicians we will give them options that are designed to help them build essential skills as well.
Think of it like this: A parent could give a child at dinner time of what they want to eat. If they gave their child the choice of ice cream or peas, I bet every time the child would choose ice cream. This might make the child happy and motivated to eat, but it would be extremely unhealthy for the child. Not to mention, bad parenting. However, a parent could similarly give their child a choice between peas and green beans. Perhaps the child dislikes both, but the fact that they are getting to choose which one they prefer to eat gives them slightly more control of the situation and instills a greater sense of responsibility for eating their vegetable since they are the one that chose it. This is an example of a good way to utilize options.
In a piano lesson environment, perhaps you realize that most of your students need vast improvement in their sight-reading skills. You could develop a practice incentive that would incorporate a variety of options related to sight-reading, and each week students could choose one challenge from a list to accomplish by the following lesson. Examples include:
- Play through 5 easy level pieces of music.
- Select a speed note drill and play each line in random order 3 times every day.
- Work on a flashcard drill – see how many notes can be named and/or played in 1 minute by your next lesson.
- Tap through one level of rhythm drills with the metronome at a certain marking.
- Search for and play a sight-reading app every day.
- And so on!
This is how I design all of my studio practice incentive themes so that students have plenty of options to help them reach their desired goals while still ensuring a well-rounded music education. This also makes every lesson new and different, but provides a wonderful framework to teach within all year long so that we stay organized and on track in our musical studies!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!


Does history follow the Artist or does the Artist follow history?
Thought is a vital, living force, the most vital, subtle and irresistible force that exists in universe... caused by the vibration of psychic vital air.
"...The future of the whole world is in your hands. You can make it or break it. The entire world is going to be watching. The entire world is going to know what the American youth can do for humanity." Swami Satchidananda - From his opening speech at the Woodstock Festival, 1969
"In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation." Remarks at Amherst College, 1963 President John F. Kennedy
As I sit here writing on a flat, clean, highly lit, high definition screen, I can only wonder what one of the main architects of the Italian renaissance would be creating. Giotto di Bondone (1266/7 - January 8, 1337), is generally regarded as being the first in line of the great artists of the Italian renaissance. As a young boy, he had the ability to draw his subjects in a more life like way -- seeing the world with new eyes. All the known artists of the day drew in a flat perspective. At the time, great masters apprenticed the best young artist. The knowledge was passed forward. A new movement called, "renaissance humanism" then emerged as a way to develop and teach the best new minds, some noted artists of the day were Michelangelo and Leonardo.
During the late 1930s, young artists were formed out of the progressive educational movement. Black Mountain College, located in NC, had some noted contributors. Buckminster Fuller, Albert Einstein, to name a few, would expand the "renaissance experience" to include the education of the total person. Some of the many alumni include Robert Rauschenberg and Irving Penn.
Pablo Picasso learned how to draw by watching the pigeons on the towns' square and creating a photorealistic sketch. His study of the art of "seeing" evolved into realism. His father was an artist.
When I was a three-year-old child in China my mother hired an art teacher, who stayed nine years to teach me the art of drawing. I used to practice everyday; sitting on the balcony as the teacher would give me piles of paper. She did this month by month, year by year, until I started to draw things I could see and then imagine in my mind. By the time I was 16, I had mastered many artistic techniques and skills. Great teachers make great artists.
Watching the 60's approach like a surrealistic bullet full of rainbows, creativity was expressed through film, theater, music, and the fine art world like no other time in history. Love, peace, and happiness were at the centerpiece of the human experience and the media brought the message to the masses -- all could experience, all could contribute.
All cultures are measured by the art they leave behind, long after modern technology has been recycled into the abyss, the great works of art will endure. I propose we re-evaluate our culture of education. Edison may have invented the incandescent bulb, but what's the point if the content we experience fails to expand our knowledge of life and what you can see with light?
Art education in America is as important to our culture as teaching science, math, history or literature -- we have many new things yet to be discovered.
What do you think?
Cowboy, Copyright 1957 Peter Max, All Rights Reserved
Meade Lux Lewis, Copyright 1961 Peter Max, All Rights Reserved


This depends on each individual child and teacher. I believe a child's music education should start at birth in some senses, and you can read about that in my "Preparing a young child for music lessons" post. But when it comes to more formal lessons, I would recommend one of many pre-school programs. My first year of teaching cello lessons, my youngest students were 6 years old, and two of them had participated in pre-school programs. Both had what many would believe was a "natural talent" for music.
Some start Suzuki and other lessons very early, but I would like my students to be about four years old [Edit: Now that I have had my Suzuki training, I would possibly start a three year old], depending on the child. They need to be ready to sit still and listen for 10 - 15 minutes at a time. It is my experience that starting before age 11 is best. Obviously a child who is 11 will learn at a faster rate than a three or four year old, but there are still benefits to starting younger. A younger child is much more eager to copy and please his parents and so is more easily motivated. A younger child usually has more time to devote to music. They also reap the many benefits of brain development which studying music provides. (See my website.) And hey, learning music is FUN! An older child might feel more pressured to "catch up" in their skills, where a younger child's practice can be more relaxed. If you would like your child to learn with me and they are younger than four, I still would recommend looking into some of the other pre-school programs in our area.
Children learning music so young do depend heavily on parents' participation for success, attending lessons and helping with practice at home, so take that into consideration, too, when deciding when to start your child's lessons. But consider the benefits of this one-on-one time with your child, too! This can be a very precious time between child and parent.
Whichever music lessons you take your child to, start looking maybe a year before you would like them to start. You can then spend some time visiting and observing the teacher(s) to see how they deal with children, what the atmosphere is like, what is expected of the children. Also, the teacher may have some ideas of things you can do at home to prepare your child. The teacher also may have a wait list. (At this time I have ONE spot open!) The child may be motivated, too, by watching other children playing an instrument or other music games a bit before they begin themselves.
And if you've already missed the under 11 window? Well, it's never too late to learn, but it does get more difficult! :-)


Things you learn about George Washington in grade school and still remember years later:
1. He was the first president of the United States
2. He was tall (6’2″)
3. He had a powerful drive to succeed, and did, despite having a minimum education
4. He was a natural soldier and became a General in the War of Independence (during which he crossed the Delaware, standing up, in the front of a boat at night in the cold, right?). He said of his first battle experience, “I heard bullets whistle and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.”
5. His wife’s name was Martha and they lived together at Mount Vernon.
Things you may have learned in grade school and don’t remember, or perhaps, things you never learned at all:
1. He grew up in the gentry class, not having more than an elementary education (which later would be criticized by his Vice President, John Adams). His father died when he was 11, and although we have close to 17,000 preserved letters from Washington, only two mention his father. On the other hand, he adored his strong mother and mentioned her frequently in his writings.
2. An adventurer at heart, he spent his early years surveying the Virginian frontier. His neat penmanship and ability to draw maps made him a natural at surveying land, which he described as the next best thing to owning land.
3. He inadvertently detonated a world war, the French-Indian war (referred to as the Seven Years War in Europe), when Irowuois Indians under his command killed ten Frenchmen near Fort Duquesne. The French retaliation led to skirmishes in British territories around the world.
4. He was elected leader of the American army unanimously, and was so touched by this that he was unable to write his letter of acceptance, and had it dictated instead. He was the natural choice because of his fighting experience and abilities and his strong leadership traits. Three days after his appointment, Congress issued the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms. At this point, formal independence had not been declared, and the hope was to avoid war through negotiations with Britain.
5. Washington would have claimed Christianity as his belief system, although his writings hardly mention”God”, instead referring to “Providence” or “the Great Ruler of Events”. He did not regularly attend church. He believed religion was a useful tool for civilized society, but not necessary. Paul Johnson, conservative historian, labels Washington as a deist. Washington was involved in the Masons.
6. Although he owned slaves, he understood that to build our country on slave-labor would be detrimental. He was the only founding father to free his slaves upon his death.
7. His passion was farming. Just visit Mount Vernon, outside Washington D.C., and you’ll see the evidence. At the time of his death, he was farming 8000 acres. His farming adventures included crop rotation and livestock breeding.
8. Martha Washington spent the winter months of the war years with her husband, tending the sick and doing needlework.
9. He never wore a wig, although he cared about his appearance and powdered his hair and tied it with a ribbon. He replaced some broken teeth with ones made from hippopotamus ivory. When he was a young explorer and mapper his traveling ensemble included nine shirts, six linen waistcoats, seven caps, six collars, and four .
For a good, quick but thorough read (pictured right): George Washington, by Paul Johnson.


We argue that differences in economic and political structures at the turn of the previous century caused two distinct paths of democratization in the currently advanced democracies. Countries which were "proto-corporatist" in the early to mid nineteenth century democratized subsequently under working class pressure (mainly Northern Europe and Scandinavia), while democracy was voluntarily extended in those countries that were "liberal" in this period (Britain and its settler colonies, and partially also France). Three reasons lay behind this: (1) Shaping an effective labor force in early industrialization required public goods, notably elementary education and sanitation, but proto-corporatist societies did not require democracy to provide them. Liberal societies, on the other hand, in which landowners were politically powerful and hostile to reform did. (2) In liberal countries the working class was fragmented into uncoordinated craft unions, hence not capable of sustained political pressure to bring about democracy; instead, democracy was the result of an inter-elite conflict, thus voluntarily extended by reformist elites. Industrialization in proto-corporatist societies, the other hand, generated industrial unionism and unified working class parties that could organize political pressure to bring about democracy. (3) Reformist elites in liberal countries did not fear that democracy would lead to major redistribution, since the fragmented working class meant that skilled workers and the middle classes would be opposed to redistribution to low income groups - reinforced by an elite-skilled worker-middle class coalition behind a majoritarian political system. By contrast, a unified working class threatened industrial elites in the proto-corporatist countries with redistribution once democracy was pushed through. As a consequence of these differences, liberal societies extended democracy voluntarily (after intra-elite struggles) because modernizers and industrialists needed political majorities to support public goods expansion, and they did not need to fear a unified working class; elites in proto-corporatist societies resisted democracy because they had the public goods anyway and had good reason to fear a unified working-class.


Free fourth grade worksheets include math, language arts, science, and more! Puzzles, life skills worksheets, and unique math worksheets help make learning fun. Please leave your feedback for the kindergarten unit: Request a graphic or printable for the kindergarten unit on edHelper.
Thank you so much for the cursive writing pack! My 2nd graders use their own version, so this will be a good incentive: those that have nice printing can learn cursive. Kindergarten Halloween Activities. Halloween is a great opportunity to take the classroom outdoors. Whether learning math by counting candy, or developing arts. Looking for handwriting worksheets? Our handwriting printables are the perfect way to keep your kid engaged while helping him improve his penmanship. Printable Kindergarten Worksheets from Scholastic provide over 2,000 kindergarten worksheets including kindergarten lesson plans, kindergarten math worksheets. Can You Read It Yes We Can, Inc Kindergarten Common Core Standards Aligned Materials Our materials are now available as digital downloads on.
Cursive Practice Worksheets. Free printable cursive worksheets cursive writing worksheets cursive a to i writing worksheet. Http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten.html. The Ministry of Education and Training policy document for kindergarten. Links to full-day. Writing Center Activities for Literacy Centers or Daily 5 I created these activities for my students to use in the writing center. They love to write friends. California Kindergarten Association. Supporting good teachers and teaching for over thirty years. Give your child a boost using our free, printable worksheets.
Howdy! I am Mr. Greg from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard. My real name is Greg Smedley-Warren. I have been teaching for 11 years. I spent a year teaching fifth. Students can practice handwriting vocabulary words using printable worksheets. Customize worksheets for cursive, left-hand, sign language writing practice. A fun and engaging way to practice the numbers 0-20! Included in this pack: *Let's Practice the Number Printables for each number 0-20 Students will: Learn a. Kids Learning Activities including Science worksheets, First Grade Maths, Tamil, Hindi worksheets Play Activities, Kids Activity Worksheets, Olympiad Maths Practice. How to set up and organize a writing center in your pre-k, preschool, Head Start, and kindergarten classroom. See pictures and suggested materials list.
Preschool worksheets are a fun way to encourage and enhance early learning skills. Preschool printables include math, alphabet, concepts, fine motor, and more. Are you looking for free children activity worksheets with which to teach your children? BrillKids offers free preschool activity sheets and kindergarten activity. Download this 20-page set of number coloring pages for your Preschooler-Early Kindergartner! Features color and number recognition practice.
Lesson plans, activities and ideas for kindergarten classrooms, including math problem-solving, reading workshop, writer's workshop, inquiry-based science. (formerly mrsjones.org) Mrs. Jones shares links to free printable materials on the internet for young children, their teachers and parents. Hi everyone! Instead of a giveaway this week, I wanted to do a fun freebie for all those awesome kindergarten students out there! It’s been a little while since I. Find Alphabet Resources, at Internet 4 Classrooms, internet resources for teachers and students, children and parents. Find Writing Resources for Kindergarten at Internet 4 Classrooms, internet resources for teachers and students, children and parents. Welcome to FOSSweb The Full Option Science System TM website. FOSSweb is the official website of the active-learning science program, FOSS. Explore resources for.
My daughter is starting Kindergarten this year, and we wanted to help her brush up a bit on her letters. We created a new Alphabet Handwriting Drill, and I made about.


The successful acquisition of reading and writing in early childhood depends on a solid background in oral language skills. What better way to gain knowledge and confidence in oral language than through music? Oral language is an interactive and social process, and music is a natural way for children to experience rich language in a pleasurable way.
Young children seem to be naturally "wired" for sound and rhythm. Besides providing enjoyment, music can play an important role in language and literacy development. Strong social bonds are encouraged through music and songs beginning in preschool. Toddlers can begin to experiment with grammatical rules and various rhyming patterns in songs and other written text.
Establishing a sense of rhythm can be used to increase a student's awareness of rhyming patterns and alliteration in other areas of reading and writing. Through music, memory skills can be improved, and aural discrimination increased. Music can focus the mind on the sounds being perceived and promote learning through an interactive process. It is important in teaching early childhood students to be conscious of auditory and discrimination skills. Music and songs help increase these listening skills in a fun, relaxed manner. Listening skills are key in singing, language and expressive movement, and later reading and writing.
Music has always been a way for children to remember stories and learn about the world around them. Using music as a stimulus can effect one's emotions and make information easier to remember. Music also creates an environment that is conducive to learning. It can reduce stress, increase interest, and set the stage for listening and learning. The similarities between literacy acquisition and musical development are many. Therefore, teaching that combines music with language arts instruction can be the most effective. Furthermore, it is important for emergent readers to experience many connections between literacy in language, music, and in print.
Language in music and language in print have many similarities, such as the use of abstract symbols. Both oral language and written language can be obtained in the same manner. That is, by using them in a variety of holistic literacy experiences, and building on what the students already know about oral and written language.
For example, emergent readers will attempt to "read" along in a shared reading of a familiar text, just as they will join in a sing along to a familiar song. (Sometimes making up the words as they go!) Just as emergent reading and writing are acquired to drawing and pretending to write, musical learning is connected to song and movement. Children instinctively listen to music and try to identify familiar melodies and rhythms, just as early readers will look for words that sound alike, have patterns, or rhyme.
Repetition in songs supports and enhances emergent literacy by offering children an opportunity to read higher-leveled text and to read with the music over and over again in a meaningful context.
A child's initial introduction to patterned text often first occurs in songs, chants, and rhymes that are repeated over and over again throughout childhood. Once children become familiar with this patterning, they are excited and able to participate in shared reading, writing and other oral language experiences. Concepts about print become more meaningful, and conventions of print are learned in context.
The effects of music on the emotions are commonly known. However the effects of music on the brain and thinking are demonstrable. Research has shown that during an electroencephalogram, music can change brain waves and make the brain more receptive to learning. Music connects the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain so that they work together and make learning quick and easy. Brain function is increased when listening to music and studies have shown that music promotes more complex thinking. It can make connections between emotions, thinking and learning.


By playing at chess we may learn:
1st: Foresight, which looks a little into futurity.
2nd: Circumspection, which surveys the whole chess-board
3rd: Caution, not to make our moves too hastily!
(The Morals of Chess)
(The Morals of Chess)
The basic task of parenting is to ensure excellent education for its children and prepare them for the real world. To ensure this objective and help children reach their potential is to provide them different outlets and opportunities in which they can succeed. And, one such opportunity is sports!
Without sports, elementary education would be boring and lifeless for young school children. In fact, it vital for kids as it makes them learn a lot about life. Sports has been identified by UNICEF as one of the key component to the delivery of quality education. We all are aware of the advantages that sports brings with it and thus, the importance of sports in the life of a child is invaluable. Sports impart lessons that are essential in the life of a child and play a pivotal role in their makeup.
Parents have realized the importance of sports and that is precisely the reason why they look to introduce their child into sports from a tender age. Normally parents decide the sporting activity for their child, which they feel is best suited in fostering their (child’s) development and growth. This may be based on past experience (if parents themselves had an exposure to sports in their younger days),feedback and suggestions from family members and friends, facilities offered by the school where the child is studying and last but not least, the research tool on internet.
If you decide your child to initiate into this wonderful game of chess, I would say that it’s one of the best decision! It’s not because of the fact that I am myself a chess player and a trainer! It is simply recommend on the basis of pure scientific research, which says that chess playing kids do better at school and therefore have a better chance to succeed in life!!
To quote one research, the 1979-1983 Venezuela `Learning to Think Project’ which trained 100,000 teachers to teach thinking skills and involved a sample of 4,266 Grade-II students, reached a general conclusion that Chess, methodologically taught, is an incentive system, which is sufficient to accelerate the increase of IQ in elementary age children of both sexes at all socio-economic levels!
Yes, chess is loved by children and it is hard to find a more appropriate educational tool for the new generations. It is obvious that chess helps strengthen teaching in the educational program in the most efficient way.
Let me put the basic advantages the game of chess offers and, if my reasoning appeals you, you should no longer wait – go for chess!!


Health literacy - Is our education system addressing or widening health inequalities?
Exam season is upon us once more and in the course of the coming few weeks, hundreds of thousands of UK pupils will be lining up their lucky charms and hoping for some divine inspiration from them.
Last year, the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) reported that only 0.7% (5,118) of entrants did not score a pass in GCSE English language and only 2.7% (20,525) of entrants did not score a pass in GCSE maths – a pass being anything between an A*-G grade. This should seem encouraging in terms of assessing future population levels of functional literacy and numeracy – the basic building blocks of health literacy.
However, research undertaken by Professor Gill Rowlands at London South Bank University to compare functional literacy and numeracy levels and the levels of literacy and numeracy required to understand actual health-related materials such as health screening posters, medicine labels etc. suggests that 42% of people would be unable to effectively understand health information, rising to 62% when comprehension also required numeracy skills.
To read the full opinion and to leave a comment on this ViewPoint piece, please visit the HSMC's ViewPointBlog


Note: this is the eigth of a series of posts investigating the leadership style of John Wooden and its applicability to choral music education.
John Wooden’s third block in the second tier of his Pyramid of Success is INITIATIVE.
Wooden says, “Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all. Initiative is the ability to act. Simple as that.”
How many opportunities for growth are missed due to lack of initiative? How often do students miss moments to improve because they lack the initiative? Whether it’s trying a new musical technique, approaching a piece outside of their comfort zone, or simply using inevitable downtime as an opportunity to improve rather than an opportunity to groom their social media.
Wooden viewed fear of failure as the source of lack of initiative, saying, “Failure happens. None of us is perfect but you must train yourself not to fear failure. Fear instead inaction when it is time to act.”
Our educational culture has ingrained fear of failure to its very core. Consider the yin/yang of these two motivations: fear of failure and desire for learning. Which is more present in our students? Which is more present in ourselves? Educators struggle with the same fears, with the fear of high-stakes evaluations overshadowing their innate desire to take the risks they must take to guide students to their potential.
How do you teach initiative? First and foremost, by empowering it. We must, must, must find a way to reward striving instead of achieving. Achievement is certainly valuable, but if we want to teach our students to be leaders tomorrow, it starts by instilling initiative in them as a core value. Because music education is immune to many of the stakes that the rest of schools often struggle against, we can be central in teaching this skill. If we empower and reward it, we will begin to see results immediately.
We can do a better job of expecting initiative by explaining its value and offering strategies for our students. When you need to do a five minute sectional with the baritones, remind your other students of activities they could choose that demonstrate initiative – then observe and reward their initiative.
Finally, we must show our own initiative to exemplify it to our students. Be public about the ways you are trying new things. Be public about your own failures in the progress of taking initiative, share your shortcomings and the ways you are taking action to improve them.
To me, initiative comes down to a desire to execute change – personal, societal, global. The more students we can encourage to take daily initiative in their own lives, the better our future will be. The more daily initiative we and our students take towards improving our musical fates, the better music we will make.
“Initiative means having the courage to make decisions and take action. Simple as that. Keep in mind that we all are going to fail at times. You must understand this and not fear failure. None of us is perfect. But if you are afraid to fail you will never do the things you are capable of doing.” – John Wooden
By teaching fear of failure, we are denying our students the change to achieve their potential. Let’s teach initiative instead.


Mcdonough, Ga. (PRWEB) October 28, 2011
Educators are trained to be instructional virtuosos or experts responsible for educating a global community of learners. Yet, many of them work in isolation away from other professionals when planning lessons aimed at increasing student achievement. Author Dr. Camen J. Black examines the problems that may arise from instructional isolation in an insightful study, Increasing the Shared Personal Practices of Educators.
The purpose of this book was to examine any increments of shared personal practice behavior exhibited by educators, working as peers in a metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, elementary school. All noted behavioral changes were accomplished through the utilization of an informal peer observation program titled, Looking at Teaching and Learning Through Peer Observation (Thompson, 2002). Two concerns that are investigated in Dr. Black’s study include:
1. What impact does peer observation have on decreasing instructional? isolation?
2. What impact does peer observation have on increasing the shared? personal practices of educators?
As readers browse through the contents of this book, they will be given a critical look at problems associated with instructional isolation and the lack of shared personal practices within a professional learning community. Increasing the Shared Personal Practices of Educators provides an intervention that can assist professional learning community participants with the ability to grow instructionally strong in producing instructional practices aimed at raising student achievement.
Increasing the Shared Personal Practices of Educators will be featured at the California School Library Book Exhibit in Pasadena, CA on November 11-14, 2011. For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.
About the Author
Dr. Carmen J. Black is an Educational leader. She has obtained various degrees and certifications in the field of education from several colleges and universities. Her credentials include an Ed.D. and a Ed. S, in Educational leadership from Nova Southeastern University, an Administrative Certification from Troy State University, a M.Ed. in Elementary Education and a B.S. Degree in Early Childhood Education, from Alabama state University, an Associate Degree in Elementary Education from S.D. Bishop State College, and a Technology Certification from the University of West Georgia. Dr. Black’s administrative and instructional talents have been featured within the states of Florida, California, Alabama, and Georgia. As an administrator she has served as an Assistant Principal, Staff Developer, Department Team Leader, Sacs Committee Chair, School Council Developer, and School Council Parliamentarian. She has been observed as a highly qualified instructor in grades K-12 and at the collegian level. Dr. Black has 25 years plus in the field of education to her credit. As a Professional Learning Community Interventionist, Dr. Black is cognizant of the role that shared practices, team work, and accountable collaboration play in our vacillating school communities. Her focus as an Educational Leader and a Professional Learning Community Interventionist is to promote student achievement with proven interventions that encourage educators to increase their shared personal practices with one another through peer observation, vertical teaming, and constructive instructional collaboration. Concisely put, Dr. Black believes,” Team Work Makes It Work!”
Increasing the Shared Personal Practices of Educators * by Dr. Carmen J. Black
Publication Date: November 11, 2010
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 128 pages; 978-1-4535-4441-9
Trade Hardback; $29.99; 128 pages; 978-1-4535-4442-6
eBook; $15.00; 978-1-4535-4443-3
Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7879. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7879.


Children’s House Art – The Children’s House art curriculum provides the students with developmentally appropriate lessons that utilize and strengthen fine motor skills. As the children learn techniques to control a wide variety of art materials, they are also allowed freedom of creative expression to successfully produce individual and unique works of art. Our classes will focus on foundational elements of visual art, such as color, shape, line, texture, and pattern, and will be exposed to famous works by master artists throughout history.
Elementary Art - The Elementary art curriculum provides the children with lessons that continue to build on foundational skills in the arts, such as line, shape, and form and further develop advanced concepts such as value, shading, texture, and composition. While learning techniques to control a wide variety of art materials, the students will be enabled to achieve a desired result as they execute an idea into a visual format. The students will also have the opportunity to make personal decisions in design, which will allow them to fully express themselves in creative and unique ways. Throughout the year, our program will be enriched by exposure to great works of art done by masters throughout history.