Each year, scores of kids are treated in hospital emergency departments for toy-related injuries. With so many toys on the market and new ones arriving every day, it's important to make sure the toys your child plays with are safe.
Manufacturers follow certain guidelines and label most new toys for specific age groups. But perhaps the most important thing a parent can do — especially when it comes to younger school-age children — is to supervise play.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) closely monitors and regulates toys. Any toys made in, or imported into, the United States after 1995 must comply with CPSC standards.
Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind when shopping for toys:
Steer clear of older toys, even hand-me-downs from friends and family. Those toys might have sentimental value and are certainly cost-effective, but they may not meet current safety standards and may be so worn from play that they can break and become hazardous.
And make sure a toy isn't too loud for your child. The noise of some electronic toys can be as loud as a car horn — even louder if a child holds it directly to the ears — and can contribute to hearing damage.
Always read labels to make sure a toy is appropriate for a child's age. Guidelines published by the CPSC and other groups can help you make those buying decisions. Still, use your own best judgment — and consider your child's temperament, habits, and behavior whenever you buy a new toy.
You may think that a child who's advanced in comparison to peers can handle toys meant for older kids. But the age levels for toys are determined by safety factors, not intelligence or maturity.
Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when selecting toys for school-age children:
After you've bought safe toys, it's also important to make sure kids know how to use them. Parents should:
Check the CPSC website for the latest information about toy recalls or call their hotline at (800) 638-CPSC to report a toy you think is unsafe.
If you have any doubt about a toy's safety, err on the side of caution and do not allow your child to play with it.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date reviewed: March 2014
|National SAFE KIDS Campaign The National SAFE KIDS Campaign offers information about car seats, crib safety, fact sheets, and links to other health- and safety-oriented sites.|
|U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) This federal agency collects information about consumer goods and issues recalls on unsafe or dangerous products.|
|TOYSAFETY.net This site, which is a project of the National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) provides toy safety information for consumers.|
|Bike Safety Bike riding is a great way to get exercise and fresh air and share time as a family. But there's an important factor that you need to consider - safety.|
|Play & Learn Center Play is the building block of childhood. It teaches kids about their world. Here, learn what activities inspire and motivate, and which toys are not only safer, but smarter, too.|
|What Toys Can Help Improve a Baby's Motor Skills? Find out what the experts have to say.|
|Choosing Safe Toys Toys are a fun and important part of any child's development. And there's plenty you can do to make sure all toys are safe.|
|Choosing Safe Toys for School-Age Kids Is your 10-year-old crying for a pellet gun? How about that used scooter? For help figuring out what toys are safe and appropriate for older kids, read these tips.|
|Choosing Safe Toys for Toddlers and Preschoolers How can you tell if a small toy poses a choking risk? What types of unsafe toys should you avoid for your baby, toddler, or preschooler? Find out here.|
|Smart Toys for Every Age An age-wise guide on play and the toys that encourage learning, promote motor skill development, and spark imagination.|
What to expect when coming to Akron Children's
For healthcare providers and nurses
Residency & Fellowships, Medical Students, Nursing and Allied Health
For prospective employees and career-seekers
Our online community that provides inspirational stories and helpful information.


The PreK-4 Pearson assessment consists of three modules testing the following areas:
- Module 1: child development, learning, and assessment; collaboration and professionalism
- Module 2: language and literacy development; social studies, arts, and humanities
- Module 3: mathematics, science, and health
Preparation materials for students to review are located on the Pearson website www.pa.nesinc.com. Included in these materials are:
- Test objectives organized by module
- Information on test design
- Sample selected-response questions
- A full-length practice test and
- Test-taking strategies
One of the purposes of this webpage is to reformat the materials offered through the Pearson site. Many times, content material presented in a different format enhances preparation rather than repeatedly reviewing the material in the same format. Attached to this website are:
- An Excel spreadsheet that lists the objectives of the prek-4 assessment. This spreadsheet should be used as a study guide for the assessment. The blank table cells may be used to record study dates or additional notes as you prepare for the prek-4 assessment.
- A Word document that includes sample questions with the correct response and rationale for the response and a Word document that includes sample questions without the correct response and rationale for response. Complete the sample questions that are organized by objective. When complete, check your responses with the correct responses given in the second document. Finally, find study materials that will help you review the content in the modules that challenged you.
- A PowerPoint that highlights successful selected-response test-taking strategies.
Hopefully, these resources will assist you in becoming comfortable with the preK-4 assessment content and confident in your test-taking abilities:


Understanding how the body moves is the key to rendering clothing, as world-renowned artist Hogarth demonstrates in this unique book.
About Burne Hogarth
Burne Hogarth’s (1911–1996) remarkable career spanned over 60 years. He wore many hats in the worlds of fine art, art education, and art publishing. He is most famous for his internationally syndicated Sunday newspaper color page feature “Tarzan” (1937–1950) and for his illustrated adaptations of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels Tarzan of the Apes and Jungle Tales of Tarzan. A co-founder of the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Hogarth remains one of the most influential figures in art education today.


Date of this Version
NEBRASKA POLICY CHOICES 1989, ed. Miles T. Bryant, Patricia O'Connell, and Christine M. Reed (Omaha: Center for Public Affairs Research, 1989).
Art education has traditionally been of low priority in Nebraska's-and the nation's -schools. Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) is a new approach that integrates the various facets of art education throughout the general curriculum. DBAE attempts to teach students critical reasoning skills so they may learn to make their own judgments rather than be manipulated through "technological image management." It also enhances the traditional art curriculum through multicultural study. Nebraska's Prairie Visions project can serve as a model to other states, which are increasingly recognizing the value of DBAE.


From Our 2012 Archives
Musicians' Brains Might Have an Edge on Aging
Latest Neurology News
THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- It's been said that music soothes the savage beast, but if you're the one playing the instrument it might benefit your brain.
A growing body of evidence suggests that learning to play an instrument and continuing to practice and play it may offer mental benefits throughout life. Hearing has also been shown to be positively affected by making music.
The latest study, published in the July issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, shows that musical instrument training may reduce the effects of mental decline associated with aging. The research found that older adults who learned music in childhood and continued to play an instrument for at least 10 years outperformed others in tests of memory and cognitive ability.
It also revealed that sustaining musical activity during advanced age may enhance thinking ability, neutralizing any negative impact of age and even lack of education. It's unclear, however, whether starting an instrument in adulthood provides any mental advantages.
"Behaviors can change your brain," said study author Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, an assistant professor of neurology, radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University, in Atlanta.
The study confirms and refines findings from previous research published April 2011 in the journal Neuropsychology.
In childhood, when the brain is still developing, it seems that learning a musical instrument and continuing to play it for at least a decade or more may lay the groundwork for benefits later in life, Hanna-Pladdy said. But it's also valuable to then pick up the instrument in middle age and start playing again, she noted.
In this study, 70 musicians and non-musicians aged 59 to 80 were evaluated by neuropsychological tests and surveyed about general lifestyle activities. The musicians scored higher on tests of mental acuity, visual-spatial judgment, verbal memory and recall, and motor dexterity.
Hanna-Pladdy, a flutist, became interested in studying the impact of music education on the brain through her study of people with skilled movement disorders, such as those who had suffered a stroke. She realized that music could be a natural way to offer multi-sensory stimulation, an effective way to treat such disorders. She then became interested in learning more about the actual effect of musical training on the brain.
Why study music education as opposed to calculus or history? One reason is that evaluating the impact of music education is relatively easy because most people can specifically quantify the number of years they studied an instrument, Hanna-Pladdy said. It's also simpler to quantify the time spent playing music than hours devoted to other activities, such as crossword puzzles, reading or playing games. "Musical activity requires years of practice and is a challenging cognitive exercise," she said.
Cheryl Grady, a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre, in Toronto, said the research confirms what has been known for some time: Education can help protect against cognitive decline in older adults.
Grady pointed out that it remains unclear what is actually causing the beneficial effect. "We still don't know that much about what actually happens in the brain. My hunch is that in terms of these results, it has to do with the practicing, the continued stimulation of the brain," she said.
She has studied the impact of learning a second language on the brain, which Grady said is related to the need to inhibit one language system when speaking, reading or thinking in the other. The mental process required to play a musical instrument may work in the same way as juggling dual languages to strengthen the connections in your brain over time, she noted.
The bottom line boils down to something simple: "Use it or lose it, or lose it less quickly," Grady said.
While the study found an association between musical activity and staying mentally sharp, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
SOURCES: Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, Ph.D., assistant professor, neurology, radiology and imaging sciences, Emory University, Atlanta; Cheryl Grady, Ph.D., senior scientist, Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre, Toronto; July 2012 Frontiers in Human Neuroscience


- Products & Services
- Digital & Mobile
- What We Do
MCP Phonics Levels D,E, & F provide continued instruciton consistent with either the ©2003 ot the MCP Phonics ©1998 Program Levels K-C. This solid, well-structured program promotes continued literacy development into the intermediate grades. Word-study, comprehension, thinking, and writing skills are integrated to make learning meaningful and relevant to the standards set forth for intermediate-grade students.
At Pearson we continue to focus on your needs and on improving our customers' online experience. We invite you to complete the survey below, and greatly appreciate your input as a valued customer of Pearson.
It will only take a minute or two to complete. Your responses are confidential and for research purposes only.
Take the survey now!No Thanks Take the Survey


Education And Earnings In Pakistan
This paper examines the role of education, technical training, school quality and literacy and numeracy skills on the earnings of wage earners and salaried persons in Pakistan by using the recent data of PIHS (1995-96). The analysis confirms the positive role of education as each year of education brings approximately 7 percent returns for wage earners. In addition, the effect of literacy and numeracy skills is observed to be large and significant. The returns are 15 percent higher for those who have all three skills as compared to those who do not possess any of these skills. The impact of technical training and private schools is found to be positive and significant. This paper draws three main policy implications. First, a large and significant impact of literacy and numeracy skills highlights the importance of basic learning skills that leads to higher wages in the labour market. This suggests the need of enhancing literacy and numeracy skills through formal as well as informal education. Second, a positive and significant association between earnings and higher level of technical training implies the urgent need of such institutions that can train individuals on modern lines in order to cope with the rapidly changing technology. And third, a large and significant coefficient of private schools highlights the importance of quality of education. The results suggests that more emphasis should be placed on market oriented approach in education. This requires the overhauling of public school system not only in terms of curriculum but also in teaching methods.
|Date of creation:||2000|
|Date of revision:|
|Contact details of provider:|| Postal: |
Web page: http://www.pide.org.pk
More information through EDIRC
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Jimenez, Emmanuel & Lockheed, Marlaine E. & Luna, Eduardo & Paqueo, Vicente, 1989. "School effects and costs for private and public schools in the Dominican Republic," Policy Research Working Paper Series 288, The World Bank.
- Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Introduction to "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings"," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 1-4 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, October.
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pid:wpaper:2000:177. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Khurram Iqbal)
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.


- Products & Services
- Digital & Mobile
- What We Do
Good Habits, Great Readers™ is a comprehensive balanced literacy program from authors Adria Klein, Doug Fisher, and Nancy Frey. The program provides a balance of flexibility and structure to support literacy learning through whole-group (Shared) and small-group (Guided) instruction.
Aligned to the Common Core State Standards
A balance of quality texts support Common Core rigor. Students will develop content knowledge in science, social studies, and other content areas.
Shared Reading and Guided Reading lessons provide a wealth of strategies, ideas, and options. Use just what you need! The writing strand supports a writer’s workshop curriculum.
Ongoing assessments and Assessment Cards help you evaluate students individually or in small groups. Performance-based Assessments align to Common Core State Standards.
Is your school ready to take a digital path? An amazing array of digital support includes online activities, animations, games, and customizable lesson planners.
“The most effective way to transfer to other content areas is to have high degree of nonfiction starting in Kindergarten and continuing across the grade levels.”
Dr. Adria Klein
Pearson encourages 21st century learning by infusing the core subjects and themes throughout our programs—Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, and Information, Media, and Technology Skills. The ultimate goal—to ensure that every child is prepared for the 21st century with skills like critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation and global competence.
Our fully digital programs and ebooks provide cutting-edge online instruction with a seamless transition from the textbook, allowing students to complete assignments, access videos and activities, and take online tests and remediation.
Language-acquisition expert, Dr. Jim Cummins, has worked exclusively with Pearson to embed powerful teaching approaches into Pearson programs, ensuring that English language learners receive the same high quality education as their peers. Dr. Cummins’ expertise in literacy development in multilingual school contexts, as well as the role of technology in promoting language and literacy development, have made Pearson programs the most effective resources for today’s ELLs.
Pearson offers complete and cohesive support to help you implement the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Professional development opportunities, aligned content, assessment, and school services are available to familiarize you with the standards and help you learn about key changes and requirements. Pearson promises to be with you throughout the transition period—and beyond.
RTI is an ongoing instructional process of using assessments to inform instruction that leads to improved student performance. Pearson's Response to Intervention solution provides a continuum of accelerated intervention strategies that assess, instruct, and monitor at every level for the best possible outcome. Unlike other modular solutions, Pearson's combination of continual progress monitoring and instruction ensure long-term, sustained results.
At Pearson we continue to focus on your needs and on improving our customers' online experience. We invite you to complete the survey below, and greatly appreciate your input as a valued customer of Pearson.
It will only take a minute or two to complete. Your responses are confidential and for research purposes only.
Take the survey now!No Thanks Take the Survey


Teaching the four 'R's
Art is essential in educating you to see the world, she argues; it gives keys to understanding the world and one's own place in it. An excerpt which I think helps illustrate her point talks about the importance of music education in the development of emotional maturity in teenage boys:
Like life, musical passages contain highs and lows, fast and slows … musical vocabulary includes dissonance and resolution, tumult and sublimity, all emboldening a student in the process of making music to feel to his heart’s content within the security of a confined experience... By learning to orchestrate emotional content through so rigorous a structure, the student must learn to merge reason and emotions; otherwise, the resulting music will be cold and sterile, math without the poetry. Classical music is too mentally commanding to permit the flailing and screaming incited by rock n' roll, thus it forces young people to control their emotional output, offering them the experience of cathexis rather than catharsis. Also, because music deals with broad abstractions - triumph, defeat, love, loss - it allows a young person to personalize universals of the human condition, to feel on a grand scale both the hope and the hurt that necessarily accompany an individual life fully lived. For teenagers, in particular, it unlocks gateways to mature excursions into the ecstasy and the vulnerability of love, the headiness and the hazards of risk. Often, once young people begin to understand the value of classical music, they turn to it in moments of emotional need to help them experience deep stirrings that may not make it to the surface of consciousness by themselves. Repressed boys, especially, can benefit immensely from music study.As another musician said, "Self-knowledge is a dangerous thing; the freedom of who you are." Read York's whole argument here.


. . . . But the perfect test is not like any of the traditional tests in popular use. It is not “norm referenced” like the Iowa or Stanford tests which are widely used to measure achievement. It is not like the barrage of high-stakes state “criterion referenced tests” promulgated to test reading and writing and judge whether pupils can pass from grade to grade or receive a high school diploma. It is not the National Assessment of Educational Progress which has been used to paint dire pictures of whole states failing to produce proficient readers and writers.
No, the perfect Literacy test is the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills developed by a federally funded group at the University of Oregon. It is being widely mandated as part of the No Child Left Behind plan each state must submit to the federal bureaucracy that controls NCLB funding. It’s acronym DIBELS has, according to Education Week, “become a catchphrase in the schoolhouse and the statehouse.” (Manzo, Education Week, 9/28/2005)What makes DIBELS the perfect literacy test is that it takes total control of the academic futures and school lives of the children it reaches from the first day they enter kindergarten when they are barely five years old. It keeps control of their literacy development and indeed their whole school experience for four years from kindergarten through third grade.. And the more poorly the children respond to DIBELS the more they experience it.
Norm referenced tests usually are not given until third grade and then only once a year. Diagnostic tests are usually used selectively with pupils to provide teachers with information on what strengths and weaknesses learners may have. DIBELS, once it gains a foothold, is administered a minimum of three times a year at the beginning, middle and end of each grade from kindergarten to third. . . .
So now the neo-eugenicists can begin in kindergarten with their beat-the-clock testing to sort and fail the innocents who have no awareness of their economic or linguistic deficits until they fail a 60-second test. No need for those messy, time-consuming, IQ tests that were used early in the last century to sort the poor and the brown.
Fortunately, there are stories of resistance like this one that came in a letter to Susan Ohanian, from the (Not the Official) DIBELS Clearinghouse):
As I finish the preliminary work in my first year of my Master's program I am taking a break from writing to send you a note.
The final paper for my pilot action research project is entitled "What's Wrong With DIBELS?" (everything). I wanted to write and thank you. I have cited you countless times and used so much information from your website. You are an inspiration and a champion for children.
I also wanted to let you know that my kindergarten class will be performing for the Parent Teacher Organization meeting next month. We are singing Stuart Stotts' "So Many Ways to Be Smart" from the No Child Left Behind - Bring Back the Joy CD. In the final verse Stuart sings "some folks are good at doing their best, though it's hard to measure on a standardized test" - the choreography for that verse is sixteen kindergarteners ripping a DIBELS test recording form! Ay yay yay!
You are cordially invited . . . .
DIBELS is a high-stakes test in our district, and I am doing everything I can to raise awareness about it and advocate for balanced literacy instruction. It is an uphill battle to say the least. Our district has cooked up a "corrective action reading plan" for kindergarten teachers who fail to show 95% of children at benchmark for Phoneme Segmentation Fluency - the plan is yet to be revealed, presumably once our scores are posted in May we'll find out the nature of our punishment.
In my school, kinders are pulled out of the classroom and away from real literature and language experiences for DIBELS "interventions" - the same drill and kill skills practice everyday to boost DIBELS scores.
NOT IN MY CLASSROOM!
We are much too busy watching caterpillars pupate and fiddler crabs molt. Last week we found a bat roosting outside our classroom door - one of my students hollered "WAIT - we have to go to the library and get some books so we can learn about it!" - so we dropped everything and that's what we did.
Alas, the next day we found the bat dead on the sidewalk. . . I sealed it in a plastic bag with it's wings outstretched so we could study it for the day before it started to decay. Don't tell the school board.
Next week we're collaborating with fourth-graders to build a bat house so the bats on our campus have a safe place to roost.
Just wanted to share a dispatch from the resistance.


December 17, 2004
Literacy on the Rise: Full Day Kindergarten Works
(Santa Fe, NM)--The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) has the results from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment that was administered three times, fall, winter and spring, during the '03-'04 school year to a majority of New Mexico's Kindergarten students. The DIBELS measures provide educators with powerful data that identifies students that have met established benchmarks for reading success and students that are at "some risk" or seriously "at risk" for reading difficulties.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “The data clearly indicates that full day kindergarten is working. We are preparing our students for a lifelong commitment to reading. The results tell us that even the most disadvantaged children can overcome the barriers to reading with consistent support from their teachers in an all day kindergarten program. ”
§ Some risk/emerging: These students have not yet reached the benchmark goal on DIBELS measures and are likely to need additional instructional support.
§ Low risk/Established: These students are making adequate progress and are benefiting from the current instructional program. They have met or exceeded the established benchmark on DIBELS measure.
Beginning school year 2003-2004, the DIBELS replaced
the State Transitional Reading Test as the Full-Day Kindergarten Program
assessment instrument. The DIBELS are reliable and valid indicators
of early literacy development and predictive of later reading proficiency.
The DIBELS assessment helps educators identify early students who
are not progressing as expected.
§ 38% of students entered full-day kindergarten in the fall of 2003 meeting the required Letter Naming Fluency benchmark for reading success. By the end of kindergarten, the percent increased to 55%, indicating that 55% of full-day kindergarten students in New Mexico are likely to become successful readers.
§ Phoneme Segmentation Fluency is a measure of phonemic awareness and the data indicated that 48 % of full-day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark. By spring, the percent had increased to 59%.
§ Nonsense Word Fluency is a measure of phonics skills. 51% of full day kindergarten students met the winter benchmark for NWF, by spring, 58% of students in New Mexico were on track for reading success as indicated by this measure.
Secretary Veronica C. García said, “New Mexico’s goal is for 100% of the students to reach the established benchmarks to become proficient readers by the end of third grade. These baseline data will provide the starting point to demonstrate student growth in full-day kindergarten programs from year to year using a measure that gives powerful data predictive of reading success for each student.”


This paper indicates that it is possible that children can show giftedness shortly after birth by:
alertness, response to caretakers, advanced motor control, early development of intentionality or
unusual attention span
In that same paper is a summary of a study where parents of gifted children were asked to retroactively identify early signs of giftedness.
The most frequent signs
of giftedness found in this study included long attention span, excellent memory, early and
extensive vocabulary development, curiosity, early reading ability, rapidity of learning, and the
ability to generalize concepts. Other studies have revealed additional characteristics:
imaginary companions, high activity levels, less need for sleep, ambidexterity, unusual
responsiveness to caretakers, allergies, sense of humor, sensitivity, perfectionism, concern with
morality and justice, preference for older playmates, and fascination with books.
The most interesting thing about the paper is the "maybe, but maybe not" aspect of most of the signs listed. Maybe your extremely verbal infant is gifted, but maybe your silent infant is like Einstein and will start speaking in complete sentances at age 4. Maybe your early walker is gifted, but maybe he or she is simply one of the non-gifted early walkers.
Here is another summary of a study on gifted children that retroactively looked at the signs of giftedness they displayed as infants and toddlers:
94% were very alert as infants.
94% had a long attention span as an infant or toddler.
91% showed early language development.
60% showed early motor skill development.
48.9% were ambidextrous at some period of their development.
37% had imaginary playmates.
The mean age at which these children spoke their first word was 9 months.
The mean age at which the children sight-read an easy reader was before 4. (Rogers & Silverman, 1997)
This site has a long list of the signs of a young gifted child, although many are applicable to the toddler and preschool stages rather than the infant stage.
The specific 10 month old described has some signs of giftedness, and it certainly would not hurt to expose him to as many challenges as he is interested in. However it appears that the signs of giftedness expressed in infancy are at best inconclusive guides, and signs in the toddler and preschool years are more definitive. Even if any given infant does not meet some external criteria for "gifted," that child should be given a chance to learn and grow to the best of his or her abilities.


The Right Question Strategy teaches two foundational skills:
- How to formulate questions (taught via our Question Formulation Technique™)
- How to focus on decisions and use specific criteria for accountable decision-making (by using our Framework for Accountable Decision-Making)
Despite their significance, these skills are rarely explicitly taught. We have designed simple methods to help individuals learn them and then teach others.
Learn the Strategy
We currently provide access to the Question Formulation Technique™ for free. Once, you are a member of the free Educator’s Network, you can gain access to Experiencing the QFT, which provides an overview of that teaching strategy. There are also handouts and other resources available that provide a one – page overview of the strategy.
Share the Strategy
The Right Question Strategy — in Education and Beyond
- Women in an adult literacy program in New Hampshire learn to advocate for themselves and secure better job training opportunities through their local welfare office.
- Patients in community health centers in the Bronx and Brooklyn, NY learn to ask questions and participate in decisions made during their encounters with health care providers
- Immigrant parents in New Mexico begin to ask questions about how to help prevent violence in their children’s schools and eventually organizing into a powerful local force to improve opportunities and outcomes for all children.
- Sugar cane plantation workers in Hawaii, about to lose the sole source of livelihood, learn to ask questions and participate in decisions about how to use the land for different purposes, supporting small businesses and begin to have a say in decisions about how company-owned housing will be allocated.
- Residents in a homeless shelter in Louisville,KY, discover the value of having a say in the school assignment process and become effective advocates for their children entering middle schools across the city.
- Teachers in England tweet about the changes they see in their students. The teachers read an article about the Question Formulation Technique™ and immediately implemented it in their classrooms and found their students more engaged and stimulated to think in new ways than they had ever seen before.


Art Education—Elementary, BAEd
What is the study of Art Education—Elementary?
The broad instructional concept is to integrate the components of art history, art criticism, and studio art courses, university courses, Gallery Exhibition Program and the permanent collection. The student learns to interpret, analyze and make intelligent judgments about art as well as learning the skills and concepts of the studio. A grasp of the dynamic nature of a culture and the continuing extension of its visual language is a fundamental objective.
This major satisfies the academic major requirement for teacher certification with an endorsement in elementary education and must be accompanied by the professional program in elementary education. See the Elementary Education section of this catalog for program admission, completion, and teacher certification requirements.
Why Should I Consider this Major?
The B.A.Ed. in Art will prepare you to teach students at the elementary grade level. The program will introduce you to curricular design in the arts and the 4 components of Discipline Based Art Education which is an approach to the teaching of Art Education that encompasses criticism, history, aesthetics, and art studio.
The Department of Art Education is a professionally oriented program designed to prepare our students to teach art in the schools for grades pre-kindergarten through twelve. The curriculum includes a strong studio emphasis in a variety of media, a comprehensive survey of both Western and culturally diverse art history, and a rich foundation in art education theory and practice.
- Gaye Leigh Green, Faculty
Western’s approach to Art Education has left me filling fully prepared to teach and make art after graduation. The faculty is fantastic and has worked to make an individualized plan to best fit my artistic and academic interests. I couldn’t have asked for better experiences in teaching students and creating work. The authentic instruction in art taught as Western will keep graduates in the forefront of the job market emphasizing that art remains about more than studio production, but also critical thought.
- Mariah Klemens, Student
- Art Educator
- Art Therapy


About The Program
A systematic, phonics-based early reading program
Primary Phonics facilitates individualized instruction through flexible, skills-based workbooks and storybooks that correspond to students’ ability levels. Students are able to work at their own pace and progress from simple to complex phonic elements to become successful readers. Students apply phonic knowledge from the workbooks to read decodable storybooks and then demonstrate comprehension using the Comprehension Workbooks. The easy-to-decode stories nurture early literacy development and build new readers’ self-confidence while applying phonics to connected text. Ample opportunities for reinforcement are included.


Engaging the visual arts to serve society
Today, more than ever, our information and knowledge are communicated visually. Opening our eyes to the power of visual images can help us discover new and insightful ways to share our thoughts and beliefs with others.
Art and art history at Calvin offers numerous programs to help you become someone who creatively and skillfully engages the world through the visual arts.
- Studio art majors learn the necessary conceptual and technical skills to create, design and dialogue about art in everyday life.
- Art education students learn to teach art in elementary and secondary classrooms.
- Art history majors research and discuss visual images throughout history in various cultures.
- Architecture students learn to create designs for structures that serve the needs of their clients in functional and pleasing ways.
- Graphics students learn to communicate creatively and effectively through the use of type, layout, design and photography.


The Creative Curriculum® is a developmentally appropriate, comprehensive curriculum that promotes positive outcomes for children.
With both the Common Core State Standards and the curriculum’s 38 objectives, identifying age-appropriate expectations for development and learning helps educators and parents know what they need to do to help children get where they need to be.
Covering all important areas of children’s development and learning—social–emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, math, science and technology, social studies, and the arts, as well as English-language acquisition— The Creative Curriculum’s objectives include predictors of school success and are based on school readiness standards. So throughout the early childhood learning experience, children are being prepared in all the ways that matter for later success in school.
advanced learners, and children with disabilities.
Supplies and equipment from all the following categories are always available for use at CDC: Art supplies; Blocks; Transportation toys; Language arts and auditory equipment and materials; Pretend or dramatic play materials; Gross motor equipment; Manipulative materials and equipment; Music equipment; Science and nature materials; Sensory motor equipment.


The publication of new data from international student tests can be relied upon to cause a stir. The program for international student assessment (PISA) has become the educational equivalent of the World Cup. But last week’s release of the 2011 results from the trends in international maths and science study (TIMSS) and the progress in reading literacy study (PIRLS) seemed to generate a collective sigh of despair, not a frenzy of interest. Australia’s PIRLS ranking was particularly poor – 27th out of 45 countries in year 4 reading, the lowest of any English-speaking nation.
International student assessments are scrutinised by countries aspiring to improve their ranking. In many countries, including Australia, performance in PISA and TIMSS is viewed as a yardstick for educational quality and is therefore driving policy. This was made explicit in the Prime Minister’s goal for Australia to be a “top five country" by 2025.
Data from international tests is valuable and informative. PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS, along with NAPLAN and the My School website, have given Australians unprecedented access to quantitative information about school performance. This is a good thing.
PISA and TIMSS are sound assessments providing reliable statistics, pointing to strengths and weaknesses in a country’s educational performance. The inferences we can make from the statistics are about the quality of teaching and learning. What can’t be gleaned is the merit of different systemic structures.
Simplistic country comparisons are highly problematic. There is little to be achieved by comparing Australia’s PISA and TIMSS results with those of small European nations and Asian city-states.
The conditions in these countries are widely disparate. Numerous factors within and outside education systems can influence student performance. The strong performance of Asian tiger economies is as likely to be the product of economic and cultural pressures that subject children to punishing study schedules as to education reforms. The socio-economic equity of Finnish student results might be attributed as much to that nation’s homogeneity as to its universal public school system.
The theory that language complexity also plays a role in PISA and TIMSS results is gaining credence. Maths and science tests are highly correlated with reading ability. Countries in which students learn to read more easily, and where fewer students struggle to read, will have an advantage. There are differences in written language complexity, even among languages based on the same alphabet. English is the most complex, while Finnish is the least complex.
Research on reading acquisition in various European languages has found English readers take 2½ years to master foundation reading skills other language readers achieve within their first year of school.
The complexity of written English makes it essential that children are taught well. The best way to teach children to read involves well-designed and well-implemented phonics instruction as part of a comprehensive literacy program that also develops vocabulary, comprehension, and love of books. Good literacy teaching includes all of these components. Unfortunately, in Australia, phonics is often seen as optional, or something to be taught “along the way".
Although Australia’s abysmal international ranking in the PIRLS test of year 4 reading was a shock, the finding that one in four students has reading ability either at or below the basic level will be no surprise to anyone working in schools in disadvantaged communities. Students often (but not always) start kindergarten with little knowledge of the alphabet, infrequent shared reading experience with adults, and a limited vocabulary. Speech and language impairments are common.
These children not only need the highest quality literacy teaching possible, some will also need early and effective intervention. A few will need ongoing support. Far more children in disadvantaged schools need reading intervention than currently receive it.
This newspaper reported at the weekend on a literacy intervention program with which I have been involved. It has been implemented in a partnership with Macquarie University’s MultiLit research unit. The results have been very positive. In fundamental decoding skills, students moved from the lowest quartile to above average, some as high as the top quartile. It demonstrates the potential for children to achieve at high levels irrespective of their circumstances.
Yet the impact of even the most effective intervention program is limited when it is not part of an overall literacy strategy that leaves nothing to chance.
Despite what we know about early reading, teachers are not always trained in the most effective instruction methods. Many have scant knowledge of the components of language. Public schools are still vulnerable to the predilections and prejudices of state education departments. All this must change if Australia is to have any hope of making progress in literacy.
The Australian Financial Review


Music Writing Resources
Ambrose, J. (1987). Music journals. In T. Fulwiler (Ed.), The journal book (pp. 261- 268). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Brittin, Ruth V. and Jaynem M. Standley (1997). Researches in Music Education/Therapy: Analysis of Publications, Citations, and Retrievability of Work. Journal of Research in Music Education 45 (1): 145-160.
Hamann, Donald L. and Keitha V. Lucas (1998). Establishing Journal Eminance in Music Education Research. Journal of Research in Music Education 46 (3): 405-413.
Irvine, Demar (1956). Writing About Music. 2nd ed. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
Larson, C. M., & Merrion, M. (1987). Documenting the aesthetic experience: The music journal. In T. Fulwiler (Ed.), The journal book (pp. 254- 260). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
LeBlanc, Albert and Jan McCrary (1991). Acquiring Criteria of Excellence for Scholarly Journals in Music. Journal of Research in Music 39 (3): 206-215.
Popoff, L. A. (1986). In-class writing to facilitate learning in music theory courses. In K. O'Down & E. Nolan (Eds.), Learning to write, writing to learn (pp. 27- 31). Livonia, MI: Madonna College Humanities Writing Program.
Redmon, J. (1986). If music be the food of thought, write on: Writing in the general music class. In K. O'Dowd & E. Nolan (Eds.), Learning to write, writing to learn (pp. 72- 74). Livonia, MI: Madonna College Humanities Writing Program.
Rodriguez, Carlos Xavier (1998). Childrens' Perception, Production, and Description of Musical Expression. Journal of Research in Music Education 46 (1): 48-61.
Wingell, R. J. (1990). Writing about music: An introductory guide. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.


Education and Services
The Bate is currently running education visits for small school groups, family education sessions and tours for life-long-learners
Hands-On Music in Museums Project
Bate Collection of Musical Instruments and Pitt Rivers Museum
Hands-On Music in Museums delivers hands-on music education sessions for school children aged 9-18 at the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments.
Workshops are offered to local primary schools, special schools, and secondary schools around Oxfordshire and surrounding counties. The programme includes:
a transition project for primary and secondary pupils in Headington, Oxford
workshops for GCSE and A-level music students on African Music, Javanese Gamelan and Music through the Ages (a historical overview of instruments, and the social and musical development of the orchestra from the Renaissance to the present day)
PGCE teacher training
These sessions are delivered both in the heart of the museums and in outreach to the schools, and provide a link between the museum collections and the school music curriculum. The project gives children an opportunity to play musical instruments from a range of historical periods and cultural traditions, and develop their musical skills and awareness of musical cultures.
If you are interested in finding out more about the project, please contact email@example.com


Boca Raton Museum of Art
The Museum's lesson plans have been written to assist classroom teachers in applying the Visual Arts across the curriculum. Each lesson focuses on an academic skill that correlates with the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and the Florida Standards.
One of the objectives of the Museum's Education Department is to expand the educator's ability to apply the Visual Arts to their curriculum by providing lesson plans, modeling arts integration for school staff through workshops and guided tours. We strive to build students' self-esteem by giving them the tools to view and discuss the visual arts and thereby enhance their own self-expression. These lesson plans are intended to enlighten and inspire students, as well as familiarize them with the wonderful works of art that reflect the feelings and observations of numerous artists who have produced visual masterpieces.
It is the Museum's goal to have the students, teachers, parents and the community-at-large, use its vast collection of art works as an educational resource. While it is always worthwhile to visit the Museum, we believe it is equally valuable to bring the Museum into the classroom and are pleased to offer these outstanding lesson plans to you and your students.
Please feel free to download these plans and images from our website for use in your classrooms. Be sure to revisit our website often for additional lesson plans, images and educational materials.
The Boca Museum of Art Education Department


It was a famous scene in civil rights history. Fifty years ago today, two Black students, James Hood and Vivian Malone, walked through the doors of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa despite then-Gov. George Wallace's infamous attempt to block the door and defy court orders. Having pledged in his 1963 inaugural speech, "Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!" Wallace took what became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" on June 11, 1963, but what he faced was a phalanx of federal government attorneys, marshals and eventually the federalized Alabama National Guard, all mobilized to carry through the court's desegregation order.
Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach represented the Kennedy administration and confronted Wallace at the door. The New York Times reported:
"Katzenbach said he had a proclamation from President Kennedy directing Governor Wallace to end his defiant stand. He asked the Governor to give way, but Mr. Wallace interrupted him and began reading a lengthy statement.
'The unwelcomed, unwanted, unwarranted and force-induced intrusion upon the campus of the University of Alabama today of the might of the Central Government offers a frightful example of the oppression of the rights, privileges and sovereignty of this state by officers of the Federal Government,' he asserted."
The Times report continues, "The Governor implied that there might have been violence were it not for his presence when he said:
'I stand before you today in place of thousands of other Alabamians whose presence would have confronted you had I been derelict and neglected to fulfill the responsibilities of my office.'"
Katzenbach responded to Wallace by asking him repeatedly to step aside.
"Governor, I am not interested in a show," Katzenbach said. "I don't know what the purpose of this show is. I am interested in the orders of these courts being enforced. I would ask you once again to responsibly step aside. If you do not, I'm going to assure you that the orders of these courts will be enforced."
Katzenbach told the governor, "Those students will remain on this campus. They will register today. They will go to school tomorrow."
After Kennedy federalized the guard, the commander then ordered Wallace to step aside, saying, "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood registered as students.
In an obituary of Hood, BET writes, "Hood and Malone entered the University of Alabama in an environment of tense emotion and resistance to integration...It was a challenging experience for Hood and Malone. He lived in a dorm with federal marshals staying on his floor. After his father became ill with cancer, Hood left the college 'to avoid a complete mental and physical breakdown.'" Malone went on to graduate, becoming the first African American to receive a diploma from the university. Hood "later earned a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in Detroit and a master's degree from Michigan State University."
Ten years before Hood and Malone challenged Alabama's segregation, Autherine Lucy sued the university in 1953 to prevent it from denying admission solely based on race or color. Lucy became the first African American to attend the school when she was admitted in 1956. On the third day of classes, a hostile mob assembled to prevent Lucy from attending classes. The police were called to secure her admission but, that evening, the university suspended Lucy on the grounds that it could not provide a safe environment. The university overturned her expulsion in 1980, and in 1992, Lucy earned her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the university that she was admitted two decades earlier.
This month, the Supreme Court will announce its decision on several civil rights cases, including one involving the University of Texas that could have dire consequences on the fight for campus diversity.
Photo: Vivian Malone enters Foster Auditorium to register for classes at the University of Alabama. (CC)


Mandarin Immersion Program Ben Franklin Elementary School
5206 Franklin St.
Vancouver, WA 98663
360-313-1850Jason Lee Middle School (beginning in fall 2015)
8500 NW 9th Ave.
Vancouver, WA 98665
See how much immersion students learn! September
Kindergarten students experience their first day in the Mandarin Immersion Program.
Ten months later, students perform a play, reciting their lines in Chinese.
The Mandarin Immersion Program The Mandarin Immersion Program is an academically challenging and enriching program for developing linguistic proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and English. Located at Ben Franklin Elementary School, the program is open to students throughout Vancouver Public Schools. See "Application Process" for details.
The 90/10 instructional model
At the kindergarten level, approximately 90 percent of instruction will be in Mandarin and 10 percent in English to facilitate early Mandarin Chinese language acquisition and literacy development.
As students transition to higher grades, more of the instruction shifts to English, so that in the upper grades, there will be 50/50 Mandarin/English instruction.
• Obtain high levels of achievement in all academic subjects
• Achieve true bi-lingualism and bi-literacy of participating students
• Foster and promote cultural diversity and respect among all students
Parent participation and commitment
To ensure achievement and success for students in the Mandarin Immersion Program, it is necessary for families to commit to the program for six years (kindergarten through fifth grade). Active parent support is extremely important to the long-term success of the program.
Benefits of a Mandarin Immersion Program • Bilingual students generally demonstrate greater academic gains.
Research shows that students in language immersion programs typically develop strong academic skills in addition to becoming proficient in both languages.
• Students have the opportunity to achieve true bilingualism and biliteracy in Mandarin and English. Students learn languages more easily at an early age. Immersing and instructing students in a second language provides an effective vehicle for students to learn to speak, read and write fluently in both languages by fifth grade.
• Students develop cultural literacy as well as enhanced cognitive skills.
Language immersion students benefit from the ability to communicate with people from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. They also typically experience academic achievement at or above their single-language peers. Research covering more than 40 years of language immersion instruction shows that students receive a variety of cognitive benefits such as mental flexibility, nonverbal problem-solving abilities, and enhanced critical thinking skills.
Application Process Interested families must complete and submit an application for their child. Applications for kindergarten for the 2015-16 school year will be available at Franklin Elementary and online starting April 13, 2015. Applications must be submitted to Franklin Elementary no later than 3:00 p.m. on May 8, 2015 to be entered into the lottery drawing. (If there are more applicants than spaces in the program, students will be selected through a lottery process.) Students residing within the school boundaries of Franklin Elementary will be placed in the first lottery drawing. The second lottery drawing will be for students outside of the school boundary, but within the Vancouver Public Schools' boundaries. The third lottery will be for students outside of Vancouver Public School District (Regulation 5115). The lottery drawing for Franklin's Mandarin Immersion full-day kindergarten will be at 3:30 p.m. on May 12, 2015. All applicants will be notified of the lottery drawing outcome.
Parents of students outside of school boundaries who are selected for this program will be required to provide their own transportation to and from school.
Once students are admitted to the program, they will have continued placement in the program each year without having to reapply. Annual renewal of boundary transfers for students living outside Franklin boundaries is required.
Parent Information Nights Additional information about the philosophy and design of the Mandarin Immersion Program is presented at Mandarin Immersion Parent Information Nights held at Franklin Elementary School.
Parents who wish to apply for their child to be in the Mandarin Immersion Program must attend one of the parent meetings in order for their child to be considered.
Parent Night Schedule All meetings will be held at Franklin Elementary School
February 26, 2015
April 2, 2015
May 7, 2015
Applications will be available online April 13, 2015.
Laura Dilley, Principal
Franklin Elementary School
"It is high time we begin to treat language skills as the asset they are, particularly in this global economy. Anything that encourages a person to know more than one language is positive and should be treated as such. Our nation can only grow stronger if all our children grow up learning two languages."
-Richard W. Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education


Last year I did a research study for my Master's program in this area. I compared two instuctional curriculums for teaching phonological awareness daily to students using two whole in-tact Kindergarten classrooms at my school. (Thank you WCPSS, for seeing the value in teacher practitioner research!) The control class taught phonological awareness for 10-15 everyday using the Micheal Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Curriculum and the experimental group taught phonological awareness for 10-15 everyday using the Hello Literacy Phonological Awareness Curriculum. The results, even after one month were amazing! I will not bore you with my 52 page research study, of which I got IRB-approval and an act of county congress to do the study, but after these results, I could not, NOT WRITE the rest of the curriculum. I truly believe it could have a huge impact of on our very youngest readers...if folks buy it and use it. That simple.
Phonological Awareness vs. Phonemic Awareness
These two terms are often used interchangeably in the reading research literature. It is accepted to use them synonymously. However, there is a difference between the two terms. Phonemic awareness is just that…awareness at the PHONEME level. A phoneme is a single unit of sound, regardless of the number of letters in the single sound. Here are a few examples of phonemic level sounds; /m/ as in made, /th/ as in thing, /dge/ as in bridge making the /j/ sound, or /ed/ as in washed making the /t/ sound. Phonemic awareness falls under the umbrella of phonological awareness, which covers awareness at the phoneme level, the syllable level, the word level and the sentence level.
Phonological Awareness vs. Phonics
Phonological awareness and phonics are two terms that are also often confused, but there is a clear difference between the two. The main way they are the same is they both deal with letters and their corresponding sounds. However, phonological awareness is sound only, without looking at print, only listening to sounds and producing sounds orally. Once you add letters for the child to look at when doing the phonological awareness work; the task becomes a phonics task. Phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, phonics (and fluency) are now housed in the Common Core standards as Foundational Reading Skills. The lessons created here in this Hello Phonological Awareness Curriculum, are strictly phonological awareness. We have meticulously gone through the Common Core standards for Reading Foundational Skills for both Kindergarten and First Grade, and identified the skills and learning outcomes that students are expected to know and do in the area of Reading Foundational Skills, related directly to phonological awareness. In addition to the standards (and skills embedded within them), there are also a few additional phonological awareness skills outlined in Appendix A of the Common Core document for ELA. The skills included in Appendix A that are not actual standards with numbers but are included in the lessons here are; Counting Spoken Words in a Sentence, Syllable Blending & Pronouncing, Phoneme Alliteration & Discrimination, and Initial Phoneme Deletion. We have included them in this curriculum, for a total of 16 essential phonological awareness skills.
We have created the following correlation table to show you how the Common Core standards for Reading Foundational Skills correlate to each phonological awareness skills embedded with the wording of the standards and the ELA appendix for the “general progression of phonological awareness skills (PreK-1).”
We have included the artic word lists we created and used to develop the curriculum in the event that you might want to use these words to develop vocabulary, language and phonics skills in other areas of your literacy block. Any letter or letters inside these symbols / / means that the sound of the letter or letters should be made, not the letter name itself.
The listening games themselves are meant to be quick, verbal exchanges between teacher and students. That is, the pace should be faster rather than slower. For each skill, the teacher “script” is indicated. Whatever it says inside the quotation marks is what the teacher should say to the students, using the words listed within each section.
I've put one lesson (which lasts a week) up for FREE, because I really want you to use it in your class for a week and see how you like it. We're so sure you'll love it, that we think you'll come back and purchase the monthly bundles. Check out our page HERE.


Primary Music: Later Years
Routledge – 1998 – 214 pages
The second of two practical classroom books on the teaching of music in primary schools, Primary Music: Later Years (7-11) combines for the first time an approach based on the centrality of the class teacher's responsibility for music, and working with the demands for subject knowledge and for appropriate progression at Key Stage 1.
'We need a book as good as this. It follows the author's excellent guide to music for the early years and gives intelligent consideration to key stage 2, that amorphous aggregation that includes both tiny believers in magic and sceptical proto-teenagers … This is an optimistic, encouraging, impassioned and honest book.' - Times Educational Supplement
It therefore seems that the greatest benefit of this admirable book may be derived by the more musically experienced practitioner. However, there is much which can be readily used by alll teachers from the highly practical activities to the planning and organisational suggestions and the the comprehensive bibliography and discography. To those wishing to provide musical experiences whicch transcend the limitations of the mundane and reflect an insight into the boundless musical potential of every child, I commend this book unreservedly. - Kathryn Marsh, Music Education Research, Vol 2, No 1, 2000


Modern life is full of distractions; though perhaps a self-evident truth, it needs noting. Hyper-connected, overly packed lifestyles leave less time for sharing books with our children, especially with iPads, Super Why! and pressing work emails to divert our attention. If given a choice between exploring the infinite possibilities of imagination through a good book, and playing with Mom’s iPhone, we all know what most children would choose.
As we approach the end of National Family Literacy Month, it is important to recognize those who, like Raising A Reader MA, have taken steps to advocate for family literacy. One example is Citizens Academy, a Cleveland charter school who has credited its students’ stunningly high test scores to its own Parent Engagement Program. At Citizens, engaged parents emphatically reinforce what teachers do in the classroom at home, supporting their children in achieving their personalized academic goals. Also in Cleveland – Esperanza Inc., a non-profit that supports Hispanic youth’ academic development. Just like Raising A Reader MA, Esperanza organizes bilingual workshops to address involvement of Hispanic parents in their children’s education.
Elianne Ramos, journalist for the Huffington Post’s “LatinoVoices,” couldn’t have stated it any better when she wrote that “life opens up, and dreams become possible when you learn to read, and read well.” In her recent article, Ramos observed how North Carolina’s Guilford County Schools and the National Center for Family Literacy have been collaborating to showcase the importance of family literacy programs. One activity is the Three Million Books Challenge, a campaign that incentivizes students to read. The NCFL also sponsors the Litera-Seeds mini-grants program, designed to help fund classroom projects that encourage parent engagement.
While there are examples, here in Boston and throughout the country, of work being done to address family literacy and parent involvement in education, we have a long road ahead of us. And while studies show that, at every socioeconomic level, children with involved parents perform better in school, there are a million reasons hindering parents from reading daily to children at home and being more involved in school life, from language barriers to extracurricular activities. At Raising A Reader MA, we believe that parents are respected partners in their children’s education. In the end, you are your child’s most important teacher, and it is your choices that most greatly influence the level of your child’s interest in learning. It’s time to unplug. I suggest rebooting with a really good book and the child you love.
Susannah Kate Matthews is the Somerville Liaison and Special Projects Assistant. As an English major at Connecticut College, she was able to steer her love of books into critical theory as well as poetry. She moved to Portland, OR after graduation for a year in AmeriCorps – she worked for the Washington Reading Corps, supporting literacy development in Head Start classrooms and advocating for family literacy through a small non-profit. She has been with Raising A Reader since February of 2012, and has loved every moment of it. She is hoping to pursue a Masters of Education starting next fall. She can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org


Andrew Benson is executive director of Smarter Schools and Mary Welsh Schlueter is CEO of the Partnership for Innovation in Education, both Cincinnati-based nonprofits.
The Enquirer brought much-needed attention to the dilemma of attracting students to STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math – and helping them succeed in STEM fields when they graduate (“Cultivating STEM talent: ‘You have to grow them,’” July 29).
We agree that the region needs to grow its own students who are interested in and successful in STEM fields, but we think the effort needs to start much earlier for students – in elementary school.
The National Center for STEM Elementary Education notes that a third of students lose interest in science by the fourth grade, and by eighth grade, almost 50 percent have lost interest. “At this point in the K-12 system, the STEM pipeline has narrowed to half,” the center noted. “That means millions of students have tuned out or lack the confidence to believe they can do science.”
One of the problems, the center notes, is that elementary school teachers often lack the background and the confidence in STEM fields to teach the subject effectively.
Fortunately, there is increasing attention to nurturing the natural curiosity of young children and developing interest and proficiency in science, math and other STEM disciplines.
One promising effort, which our organizations were involved in earlier this year, helped teachers enhance STEM skills for about 2,000 students in 18 elementary- and middle-school classrooms in the Cincinnati Public Schools and the Milford Exempted Village Schools.
This innovative project, funded by Ohio’s Straight A Fund, paired local businesses and nonprofits with the classrooms to work on real-world issues through case-based learning studies that had students using STEM skills to reach solutions.
For instance, Kilgour Elementary sixth-graders in Cincinnati helped develop a new ice cream flavor for Madisono Gelato, a local gelato maker, which is featuring their “Triple Chocolate Dare” this summer. The case required students to employ survey research, data analysis, product development, presentation skills, marketing and salesmanship to find and name a flavor. “Companies work very hard to get information and data to help them decide things,” Madisono Gelato owner Matt Madison told the students. “You guys are doing that. This is the real thing.”
Eighth-graders at Cincinnati’s Aiken New Tech worked with the Taft Museum of Art to experiment with how to transform a two-dimensional landscape mural from the museum’s collection into a three-dimensional, free-standing work of art.
For one 14-year-old girl, the project itself was transforming. “I’ve seen how much I’ve grown as a person from this project,” she said. “This is creative for our brains. It gives us more ways to see things in life. It’s making me love science.”
The case-based learning approach was adapted from teaching practices common to Harvard Business School and medical schools, and a third-party evaluation of this project found that the adaptation increased interest and achievement in STEM subjects.
That’s good news for these students and teachers, as it gives educators another tool to help foster interest and acumen in STEM subjects. But, more importantly, it is good news for Greater Cincinnati, which needs to be seeding interest in STEM early if it wants to reap the benefits of more graduates with the skills needed to succeed in the workforce.


The cost of failing our maths students
How do you persuade a nation that basic maths skills are just as important as being able to read and write? You put a price tag on them. This is what the accounting firm KPMG has done in its report The long term costs of numeracy difficulties, which was published last week. The firm estimated that the soaring number of people who leave school without adequate numeracy skills could cost the UK taxpayer up to £2.4 billion every year. The report backs the launch of a £6 million campaign by the Every Child a Chance Trust, which encourages businesses to spend money on helping school children overcome their numeracy problems.
Too many children leave primary school with poor numeracy skills.
According to the report, around 33,000 children (6% of 11-year-olds) leave primary schools each year with poor numeracy skills, which in turn leads to an estimated 7 million innumerate adults with mathematical skills at or below those of a nine-year-old. The resulting long-term cost to the public purse could be as high as £44,000 per individual up to the age of 37.
Behind the stark figures lie the personal hardships facing those affected by poor education. It is well-known that unemployment, poor mental health, drug addiction and criminality often go hand in hand with poor literacy skills, but the report points to evidence that poor numeracy skills have just as important a role to play in the lives of those trapped at the bottom of the social scale. Thus, poor maths skills do not just impact on public spending through the costs associated to education — for example special needs support or truancy prevention — but also through the costs associated to unemployment, health and crime. It is these costs the report attempts to estimate. For example, it puts the price of innumeracy through unemployment at £1.9 billion, through crime at £165 million, and through drug use and teenage pregnancy at £98.9 million.
The Every Child a Chance campaign will encourage local businesses to contribute up to £12,000 a year over three years to an extension of its early intervention programme, Every Child Counts. The government-backed programme provides children aged seven who have the greatest difficulties with numbers with extra tuition for a limited period, and also plans special maths tool kits for children to take home, containing CDs and mathematical games. Local businesses will be encouraged to supply volunteers to become "number partners" to help children with their sums.
According to KPMG, whose chairman John Griffith-Jones is also Chairman of the Every Child a Chance Trust, such early intervention can lift around eight out of ten of the children who receive it out of "numeracy failure". Sticking to the language of cost-effectiveness, the report's authors estimate that every £1 spent on the Every Child Counts programme will save between £12 and £19 later on. Barclays has already signed on to be the first national sponsor, pledging £1.2million to provide a co-ordinating structure for the programme and to establish sponsorship relationships between 20 Barclays branches in England and their local primary schools.
Ironically, the KPMG report was published in the same week as a study by a US jobs website, which deems the job of mathematician to be the "best" occupation out of a list of 200, with other maths-based jobs like statistician, actuary, accountant, computer scientist and economist also making the top twelve. The website CareerCast.com decided that mathematics comes top in terms of five criteria: work environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands and stress.
Results like these highlight the image problem of mathematics: the gap between what people think maths is and what it could actually do for them. It is this image problem that the numerous maths initiatives that have been set up over recent years have to tackle, so that eventually innumeracy will become just as unacceptable as illiteracy.


Amazing Alphabet: Using Magnetic Letters to Master Early Literacy Skills (page 2)
- 7 Storytime Strategies to Boost Early Literacy
- Early Literacy Development Foundations
- 4 Keys to Literacy
- Make Alphabet Tiles
- Branch Out: Create an Alphabet Tree
- Obama on Early Childhood Education
Every parent of a preschooler knows about those colorful magnetic letters that stick to the fridge (not to mention littering every other surface in the house). But however annoying cleaning up those little ABCs might be, the magnetic alphabet can provide many amazing opportunities for preschoolers to interact with letters and build a foundation for literacy learning.
Magnetic letters provide opportunities for hands-on learning which are much more suited for the way young children learn than workbooks and flashcards. "Manipulating materials allows young children to actively construct knowledge using their senses, rather than merely passively taking in and repeating rote information," says Deanna Zerr, President of Unlimited Options and former President of the Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children. “When children manipulate the letters, it adds to their memory processing and enhances their ability to recall the letter in written form later,” says Julie Duffy, Pre-Kindergarten teacher at Shepherd of the Hills Christian School in Colorado. “The child is having great fun - you are interacting with their learning and newfound reading abilities emerge!”
So round up those magnetic letters and try a few of these fun, multisensory activities to help your preschooler master important early literacy skills:
Visual Discrimination is the ability to differentiate similarly shaped objects, and is an important early reading skill. For example, children must be able to see the differences between E and F or C and G before beginning the process of learning letter names and sounds.
- Have your child sort magnetic letters into three groups according to how they are formed –straight lines, curved lines or both curved and straight lines –to help him focus on the similarities and differences in letters.
- The same objective can be achieved by purchasing two sets of letters and asking your child to match pairs of the same letter.
- Play a game of I Spy in which your child picks the letters in his or her name from all of the alphabet letters!
Letter Recognition is the ability to recognize and name each of the letters of the alphabet. While this is an important pre-reading skill, it will take repeated practice to master.
- Begin with the uppercase letters first as they are easier to distinguish. For example, it is much easier to see the differences between B, D, P and Q than b,d, p and q.
- Create an alphabet train across the kitchen floor using magnetic letters as the train cars. Draw a simple engine and caboose on a small piece of paper and build the train from A-Z, singing the alphabet song for assistance whenever it is needed. As your child is able to recognize the capital letters, you may wish to introduce a few lowercase letters at a time. Matching just a couple pairs of upper and lowercase letters will give your child confidence and you can gradually add more into the mix.
- As you cook dinner, have your child cook up his own alphabet soup by putting all the letters into a large pot. Give your child a spoon and sing the alphabet song as he stirs the soup. When the song has ended, he can scoop up a letter (it will stick to the spoon if you use a metal one), and name the letter.
Beginning Sound Awareness is the ability to recognize the first sound in a word. Hearing the first sound in a word is a component of phonemic awareness, the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words, and one of the best predictors of reading success in young children.
- Play a game of Go Fish with a fishing pole created by attaching a wooden spoon or ruler to one end of a piece of string, and a large paperclip to the other end. Spread the letters on the floor (a few at a time if they are just beginning to work on this skill), and have your child “fish” for a letter. Once a letter has been caught (the paper clip will attach itself to the magnet on the letter), your child can name the letter and the sound it makes and think of one or two words that begin with that letter.
- Give your child three letters and send her on a hunt for objects that begin with that letter from around the house. Set the timer to make it more challenging!
These ideas will help your put your magnetic letters to good use by building a foundation for literacy success for your little learner. These skills do not come naturally to children, but repeated exposure and playful practice will produce long term benefits as a child begins to read. The possibilities for practice are endless, so once you have tried these tips out, get creative for added alphabet practice!


Friday, July 6, 2012
Early Years Apps for Learning
More antidotes of very young learners becoming engaged by and using apps continue to surface. There is even early evidence that preschoolers who use iPads for some guided activities have a small advantage with language acquisition. Dr D Bebell, Sue Dorris and Dr Mike Muir from the Auburn School District presented to Auburn School District Committee. This has yet to be proven conclusively but may have interesting outcomes for early years teachers.
There was no suggestion of which apps were used in the study but it did make me curious to see what apps were available for early learners. Here are a number of apps that can be used by preschool and infants age kids.
Learn - toggle through the alphabet to see the pictures and words that start with the letter chosen. Press the picture to hear it. Practice- Choose the letter that the picture starts with. Play- This fun activity is great for all ages. Press the circle to reveal a random letter. Choose from the nine colored markers and start drawing something that starts with that letter.
Stories About Me allows parents and teachers to create their own social stories for their children and students. Blending photos, text, and voice recordings into a talking picture book, children can playback rich media stories of their own personal experiences. Swiping advances the pages and tapping plays the audio; simple as that!
Learning to write letters and numerals will never be the same after a child tries LetterSchool. This app has raised the bar for all letter/numeral recognition apps. Children’s Technology Review. A fantastic program to familiarize kindergartners with the alphabet. This intelligently designed app will captivate the user through entertaining animations and an easy to navigate interface.
Wonder Kids: FREE
Wonder Kids is an educational application for toddlers, pre-school and elementary school children. Fun Learning Activities, as coloring, drawing, matching games, jigsaw puzzles and Bingo games. Contributing to the all-round and linguistic development of kids, the application gives them a sense of achievement and enormous satisfaction.
SpellMania encourages players to spell and learn harder and harder words. If the player makes a mistake, the host will repeat the word letter by letter with the correct spelling displayed on screen. Any misspelled words are more likely crop up again in the game, giving players another chance to get it right, reinforcing the learning.
Kids learn their ABCs through play when they make the 'D'inosaur roar, 'Z'ip the Zipper, and more! Every letter is a unique, interactive toy! The memorable flash cards engage children in learning and aid in development. Develops reading foundational skills including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and phonics sounds
Created by an Occupational Therapist. Ready to Print is a tool for parents, therapists and educators to help teach pre-writing skills to children to build a strong foundation for beginning printers. Ready to Print progresses through the pre-writing skills so that children can master the visual-motor, visual-perceptual, and fine motor skills.
This app is a How To guide for kids and their mentors to get the words flowing. This app is not about grammar and spelling. The creative writing process is presented in entries and photos of kids writing, original artwork, and inspiring scenes. The photos will fuel brainstorming for stories, essays and poems.
Can you complete each level by setting cuckoo’s clock correctly 12 times? Choose the level of play you wish to practise then drag the minute hand around the clock to match the time spoken. Press the yellow button to see if you’re correct, if you are, cuckoo comes out to say hello! Multiple levels.
This app addresses all four language objectives to help early language learners as well as children with expressive language delays who use augmentative and alternative communication methods. Use the ‘Learn’ and ‘Practice’ buttons to direct the child to find a specific target words.
Posted by Greg Swanson at 6.7.12


Guide your child to effective communication with this fully updated handbook.
Language is about so much more than just words, and healthy communication is the foundation of your child's ability to succeed emotionally, socially, and academically. The first eight years of life are a critical period of language and literacy development, and as a parent, you are your child's primary role model as he or she begins to acquire speaking, reading, and writing skills. And yet, you may be uncertain of what constitutes typical language progress and of what activities and practices will enhance your child's learning experiences the most. Fully revised and updated for our modern times, Beyond Baby Talk is here to guide you through the easiest and most engaging ways to instill strong communication skills in your child, and to provide fun for you both along the way.
Inside, you'll find all of the essential steps and checkpoints to help you gauge your child's progress, as well as easy methods to:
- Evaluate and monitor your child's spoken language development
- Enhance your child's literacy skills for improved spelling, reading, and writing abilities
- Understand and navigate environmental influences on language development such as television, texting, and cultural slang
- Recognize the signs of language and literacy progress problems--and know when to seek professional help
"In collaboration with and copyrighted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) "www.asha.org/BeyondBabyTalk.
About the Author
Apel is a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Western Washington University and a widely know educator and specialist in childhood language.
Kenn Apel, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a professor of communication disorders and sciences at Witchita State University and a widely known educator and specialist in childhood language.
Julie J. Masterson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a nationally known educator and specialist in child language development. She is a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Southwest Missouri State University.
"Beyond Baby Talk combines accuracy with readability to produce an excellent resource for parents, caregivers, and clinicians alike." --Arthur C. Maelender, Ph.D., Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
"[Beyond Baby Talk] is well written and enjoyable to read....made concepts much easier to grasp and understand. I would definitely recommend to the families that I care for. " --Michael Metts, D.O., FAAP, FACOP, Des Moines University


Music enthusiasts who are drawn to creating and communicating with rock music have another option to pursue their music career as more prospective students begin looking for university online programs in music theory, history and composition. Many colleges and universities now offer online music classes that allow them to explore everything from the history of rock music to finding a job in the music world after obtaining a music degree.
But why study music? In an answer to that question, J. Terry Gates, associate professor of music education at the State University of New York at Buffalo, stated that the best reason to study music is: “it gives people a reliable, thorough, and efficient way of becoming expert at creating, communicating, and deriving meaning musically in the world of humans.” In other words, students of music become aware of music as a means of communication. They are thus better able to create songs that will carry the message they want to convey to their audiences. Whether you are in a band already or considering songwriting, musical knowledge is cultural power.
Here are some examples of the online classes that can motivate, inspire, and cultivate rock music lovers who are serious and passionate about studying music.
1. The History of Rock ‘n Roll (Valley City State University, ND)
This exploratory course traces the American popular music movement as it evolved from the 20th century. It focuses specifically on the rock genre by using recorded examples, historical footage,and some selected texts. Students will study important recordings, different artists, albums, musical and technological advancements in music, as well as learn about the social and cultural impact of the music.
2. Music Recording, Mixing, and Mastering (Valley City State University, ND)
This music production course gives students an overview on the techniques, hardware, and the software that is used in audio production. Students will learn about “mixing and mastering” through selected readings and by participating in a mastering project.
3. Pop and Rock Vocals (Berklee College of Music, Boston)
This class focuses on the “breath support and management” of singing and ways to bring out the emotional reaction that singers want from their audience. It explores ways to communicate and relate to the audience and how to use the “stage” to your advantage during a performance. Students are required to record “sing-along” track assignments for instructor’s assessment. They will also learn how to perform a variety of music genres while exploring the music of some of the greatest singers and songwriters including John Lennon/Paul McCartney, Janis Joplin, Robert Plant, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Madonna, and many others.
4. Rock Guitar Soloing (Berklee College of Music, Boston)
This class is for students who have learned how to play the technical aspects of the guitar but do not possess the knowledge to apply the musical elements that make up a song. Students will learn to accomplish this task by using video, audio, class discussions, and diagrams to understand what makes a successful solo. Students will listen to various guitarists and explore their techniques and then learn how to apply those same techniques to their own playing.
5. Career Perspectives (Mary Pappert School of Music, Pittsburgh)
Now you have a music degree, so…what are your career options? This course helps student discover the ways and means to make a living in the world of music. It covers such topics as marketing, project developing, business skills, and recording. This course will help students feel more confident in their job search and discover what type of music jobs exist across the country.
It was Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, poet, composer, and classical philologist, who said that “in music the passions enjoy themselves.” Surely for those who are sincerely passionate about music, this quote hits home as more and more students seek
careers in music education, online.


How to create a voltaic cell battery using a lemon.
1Polish the zinc and a penny (a small copper coin) with sandpaper.Ad
2Squeeze lemon without breaking its skin. The squeezing action releases juices inside the lemon.
3Cut two slits in the top of the lemon, 1 to 2 centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 in) apart.
4Insert a penny (or copper coin) into one slit and the zinc into the other.
5Test to see if voltage is produced by touching leads of voltmeter to both the penny and the zinc.Ad
We could really use your help!
Rome Total War?
- You can replace the strip of zinc with a galvanized nail or with a zinc washer.
- If you can get a copper strip instead of a penny, it will work even better. You can place it deeper into the cell. Pennies made after 1982 only have a thin layer of copper on the outside, the rest is zinc. Pennies from before 1982 and some from 1982 have a much higher copper content. You can hear the difference if you drop the pennies on a hard surface. If you have a real strip of copper, it will work better.
- You can replace the penny with a silver or nickel coin.
- You can replace the voltmeter with the speaker from an old transistor radio.
- Many other replacements are possible: experiment with them.
- This is called a wet cell; normal batteries are dry cells.
- Always be careful when working with electricity.
- Power in single cell isn't strong. You will require several linked together to light a light bulb (two or more cells make a battery).
Things You'll Need
- Zinc strip
- Penny (small copper coin)
- One lemon
- Scissors or knife
Sources and Citations
- Lemon battery, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_battery
Categories: Science for Kids
In other languages:
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 139,717 times.


Babies develop early math and numeracy skills by experiencing concrete actions on their world. Take simple paper tearing. One big piece of paper can be torn into 2 pieces, 3, 4, 5 — from the one piece come many pieces—like magic to a baby. We take it for granted but to babies this is exciting stuff. Watch Whitney’s squeal with each additional “division” of paper:
It is these early intuitive experiences with sequence, number & numeracy that provide the foundation for later abstract mathematical symbol systems. It is the same with more and less of stuff; babies notice the difference. More ice cream for the sibling can bring about a temper tantrum. We can help our babies reflect on these logical and numberical aspects of their world by drawing attention to them and narrating a bit as I attempt in the video.


Tutors have the ability to create educational resources and share them with the WyzAnt community.
Here are some of the resources created by Cynthia.
View all of Cynthia’s resources
If your math problem is stated in fractions then there is another method below, but if your problem is for you to figure out the precedence of operations, then see the above reply.
If you are doing the problem from a multiplication standpoint:
I wanted to share with you my excitement in attending a class for diagnosing dyslexia. It is the first series in a 4 part series through the Dyslexia Institute. I was amazed at some of the reading I did including how dyslexics and non-dyslexics use different
parts of their brain for reading. Through phonics instruction it was proven through MRIs that dyslexic brains eventually started...


This is how reading begins. Early literacy experiences—a baby playing peek-a-boo, a toddler finger painting, and a preschooler making up rhyming words—build the foundation for later reading and writing success.
Policymakers, researchers and educators are talking a lot about these early literacy skills. That’s because supporting children’s early literacy development is a critical to their future reading success. And children who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade are 4 times less likely to graduate from high school on time than proficient readers. In 2011, 68% of 4th graders not reading proficiently.
You can help children have the early literacy experiences they need to thrive. We’ve created an early literacy calendar (view a preview of the calendar) that describes 144 different activities to promote literacy that parents and caregivers can do with children. Your donation will allow us to provide these calendars at no-cost to families across the state.
This holiday season, give the gift of literacy. Every $100 donated will allow us to print 50 calendars to share at no-cost with North Carolina children and families. Help us reach our goal of distributing 5000 calendars.
We only have 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and when that child begins kindergarten. 90% of critical brain development happens in that time. Your gift will help children build a strong foundation.


National Achievement Test
The National Achievement Test (NAT) is an examination given annually in March to assess the competency of both public and private school students. The students’ knowledge and skills are tested in the subjects of Mathematics, English, Science, Filipino, and HEKASI for grade school and Mathematics, English, Science, Filipino, and Araling Panlipunan for high school. The test is administered by the Department of Education's National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC). The results are intended to guide the Department of Education in its efforts towards the improvement of the quality of education in public schools and to provide appropriate intervention for the students. A score of 75% and up indicates mastery of the subject and 50% to less than 75%, near mastery; while a score of below 50% indicates low mastery.
NCEE, NEAT, NSAT
The NAT used to be called the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) for the grade school level and the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) for the high school level. Both NEAT and NSAT were precursors of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), an examination administered to gauge the competency of students entering college. The NCEE was abolished in 1994 through Executive Order no. 632 by then education secretary Raul Roco who stated that all high school students should be able to enter college and be given a chance of a better career in the future. It was replaced by NEAT and NSAT.
When the Department of Education Culture and Sports (DECS) was officially converted into the Department of Education (DepEd), NEAT and NSAT were also abolished and replaced by the National Achievement Test. Both the public and private elementary schools take this exam.
Assessment of School Performance
Since school year 2002-2003, the test has been given to grade 3, grade 6, and 2nd year high school students. From 2004 – 2006, the NAT was also given to high school seniors under the direction of Secretary Edilberto De Jesus as a special measure to further aid in the assessment of school performance.
The schools of Eastern Visayas and CARAGA made it to the top 2 for school years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 while the schools of ARMM, NCR and Western Visayas were in the bottom 3. Science was found to be the subject of lowest competence for both elementary and high school students. There was general deterioration seen in the results from school years 2004 to 2006 but by 2008 an improvement was seen, especially in the subject of science, with the number of students found to have low mastery of each subject consistently decreasing.
Citing an unhealthy competition among schools, the Federation of Association of Private Schools and Administrators (FAPSA) criticizes and lobbies for the abolition of the program. The conduct of the test, according to the group, paves the way for ingenious access to leakage.
Through this exam, the National Education Testing and Research Center — the DepEd’s testing arm — seeks to determine each student’s competency level under the department’s regular and bridge education program. Under the bridge program, parents can have their sixth-grade children undergo one more year of elementary education to hone their skills in English, Filipino, math and science. However, assurances from the Philippine government stated that the exam will not be a basis for public schools to accept incoming high school or college freshmen since the government’s policy is to accept all students at any public school so long as they complete all their requirements at the previous level.
- “Education Office Slates Achievement Test." In SunStar, January 30, 2008.
- "Students’ scores in achievement tests deteriorating; CARAGA and Eastern Visayas rank highest." DepEd.gov.ph
- "Grade 6 Pupils’ National Score Up." In Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 25, 2008.
- "NSCB- 2007 Factsheet." NSCB website