Early Words is designed to enhance children’s early language and literacy development through providing training and mentoring to child care providers serving young children (ages 0–5 years). The proposed evaluation used a multi-method approach to collect information about program implementation, immediate benefits of training, and training outcomes, including provider practices and child outcomes. The study involved three key components:
Component 1 collected information using surveys and observations to address questions such as the content of the trainings, trainer characteristics (credibility, communication style, presentation quality), provider knowledge gained during training, provider motivations for participation in the program, and perceptions of the granting and mentoring processes.
Component 2 involved intensive observations of provider environments and provider-child interactions to collect information about the extent to which providers were able to translate information and knowledge gained through training into practice.
Component 3 assessed the effects of the quality of literacy environments for children receiving care in environments in which there is higher vs. lower quality literacy support. Research has shown that children exposed to high-quality, literacy-supportive environments show more emergent literacy development (e.g., familiarity with letters and book), and thus, that interventions focused on changing provider environments and behaviors are important for laying the foundation for later literacy and language development.


Many of our remote units include an Interactive Online Exploration (you might know it as a Hyperdoc.) While these explorations can be used at any time in a lesson, in our curriculum they are used to launch the unit. Explorations guide students through a review of foundational skills, link a a video or book, and provide online collaboration via graphs or classroom discussions, and much more!
Here are a few samples of what our Online Explorations look like:
Engaging and Informative
In remote learning, a challenge is providing opportunities for student skill development and make it engaging at the same time. Our Online Explorations are open ended and visually appealing for students. For teachers, they deliver formative assessment tasks that support you with differentiating learning.
Online explorations are created in Google Slides, but that’s just the beginning, because the links take students all over the place to learn! Here are a few samples of where students might go from an Online Exploration:
Support for Integrating Explorations
When you’re ready to use one of our Online Exploration, here are some tips and tricks to get started with linking and sharing. We hope this makes your life a little easier and engages your students. Enjoy!Follow Complete Curriculum on WordPress.com


Research at the University of Reading’s Institute of Education has had a direct impact on school curricula as well as learning and teaching strategies, both in the UK and abroad.
Gender, Identity and Confidence
Failing to understand self-identity and confidence and how these interact with symbolic and cultural notions of gender identity for particular groups of women is a significant oversight in efforts to raise aspirations of children. Carol Fuller and Maria Danos‘s ‘Marvellous Mums’ project is designed to develop confidence amongst women/mothers with hopes that they in turn will develop confidence in their own children. The programme has already made significant impacts to the lives of the women taking part – including increased levels of self confidence, networks of support and transitions back into work for some
Our research has had an impact on language learning across the world.
Work by Suzanne Graham has informed the revised Modern Foreign Languages A Level specifications, the revised GCSE criteria, and underpins the development of English language textbooks used in Brazil with millions of school-aged children.
Additionally, Suzanne Graham have been invited to be part of a consortium of European partners, who will develop an assessment tool for primary foreign language learning. This is now being funded by Erasmus+ and will be used across several countries in Europe.
Naomi Flynn’s research on Pedagogy for multilingual learners in primary schools has led her to be involved with MESH (Mapping Educational Specialist knowHow initiative) guides for teachers. These guides aim to develop research-informed practice and specialist professional subject knowledge for teaching children with English as an additional language.
Rhona Stainthorp’s research has influenced the teaching of reading in the early years in the UK, Malaysia and Vietnam; informed the primary school curriculum in the UK; underpinned the national assessment of phonics knowledge in early years and primary school; and informed the training of primary school teachers. She also sits on the Expert Advisory Group for Literacy.
Blue-Zoo, a London-based multi BAFTA award-winning animation studio, has used aspects of Stainthorp’s findings about the early phonic skills of precocious readers to develop Alphablocks. This BAFTA-nominated CBeebies programme is designed to teach children letter-sound correspondences and blending via an exciting series of programmes.
Furthermore, Helen Bilton’s Research on Early Years, play and the outdoors has influenced a number of local authorities in their outdoor learning provision for young children.
Emeritus Professor Paul Croll gave evidence about apprenticeships to the House of Commons Select Committee on Education: Inquiry into Apprenticeships and Traineeships for 16-19 Year Olds. This contribution has informed the decision-making of government regarding apprenticeships.
Disability and mental wellbeing
Jill Porter has worked with the UK and Russian governments with regards disability and education. They have piloted and adapted her tools for collecting disability data from parents and children.
Cathy Tissot’s work in Special Educational Needs has influenced the work of SENCOs (Special Educational Needs Coordinators).
Research in the Institute of Education has influenced teaching in a vast range of areas.
Carol Fuller’s research is included in GCE sociology text books and has informed programme delivery of school residential visits locally.
R. Harris has contributed to documents emanating from the Council of Europe regarding teacher education for change.


Resources › For Educators 5 Successful Review Activities for Elementary Students Fun Review Ideas, Activities, and Games Share Flipboard Email Print The 3-2-1 Pyramid Review Strategy is a great way to review skills. © Janelle Cox For Educators Secondary Education Lesson Plans Grading Students for Assessment Becoming A Teacher Assessments & Tests Elementary Education Special Education Teaching Homeschooling By Janelle Cox Education Expert M.S., Education, Buffalo State College B.S., Education, Buffalo State College Janelle Cox, M.S., is an education writer specializing in elementary school education. our editorial process Janelle Cox Updated March 01, 2018 Review sessions are inevitable in the classroom, and for many teachers, it can be a rather uninspiring exercise. Too often, review activities feel boring and may leave your students feeling unengaged. But, it doesn't have to be that way. By choosing some fun and engaging activities, a traditionally mundane review session can become an active and inspiring session. Check out these five teacher-tested review lessons with your students. Graffiti Wall When students here the words "it's review time," you might get a bunch of groans. But, by turning the review session into a hands-on activity, students will be more likely to enjoy the exercise and even better retain the information. Here's how it works: Place a variety of different colored dry erase markers on the front board(or different colored chalk if you have a chalkboard).Then give students a review topic, and randomly call about three to five students at a time to the board.The students' goal is to think of any word that associates with the given topic.Students can write the word any way they like (sideways, up and down, backward, etc.)One rule you must enforce is that students cannot repeat any word that is on the board.Once all the students have had a turn, pair them up and have each student tell their partner about five of the words on the board.View pictures and learn more about this great graffiti wall review activity here. 3-2-1 Strategy The 3-2-1 review strategy is a great way for students to review just about anything in an easy and simple format. There are a few ways you can use this strategy, but often, the preferred way is to draw a pyramid. Here's how it works: Students are given a review topic and told to draw a pyramid in their notebook.Their goal is to write down three things they learned, two things they thought was interesting, and one question they still have. You can adapt this activity any way you want. Instead of asking a question on the top of the pyramid, students can write a summary sentence. Or, instead of writing two things they found interesting, they can write two vocabulary words. It is very easily adaptable. View a picture of the 3-2-1 review pyramid. Post-It Practice If your students love the game "Headbands," then they will love playing this review game. Here's what you have to do to get started. Provide each student with a Post-it note, and have them write down one review term on it.Then without the other students seeing the note, have each student choose one person to stick their note to their forehead.The goal of this activity is for students to go around the room and try to explain the term without using the actual term.Make sure that each student has the opportunity to go around the room and explain each term. Move Ahead of the Class This review game is the perfect way to incorporate teamwork while reviewing important skills. Here is how you play: Divide students into teams of two, then have students stand in a row where one student is behind one other.Use the squares of the floor as the game board and tape off a finish line.To play the game, have one person from each team face-off by answering a review question. The first person to answer it correctly moves ahead to the next square.After the first question, the next person in line takes the place of the student who got the answer correct.The game goes on until one team crosses the finish line. Sink or Swim Sink or Swim is a fun review game that will have your students working together as a team in order to win the game. Here's what you need to know to play the game: Divide students into two teams and have them form a line and face one another.Then ask team 1 a question, and if they get it right, they can choose one person from the other team to sink.Then ask team 2 a question, and if they get the answer right, they may either sink their opponents' team member or save their sunken team member.The winning team is the one with the most people at the end.


Publication Date: June 05, 2017
For tomorrow's workers, AI will be more than a tool; AIs will be their co-workers and a ubiquitous part of their lives. If the next generation is to use AI and big data effectively - if they're to understand their inherent limitations, and build even better platforms and intelligent systems - we need to prepare them now. That will mean some adjustments in elementary education and some major, long-overdue upgrades in computer science instruction at the secondary level. The U.S. is woefully behind many of our peer nations, and President Obama's Computer Science for All initiative may flounder amid budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Another major hurdle is that our schools face a severe shortage of teachers who are trained in computer science. This is where U.S. tech companies could help immensely. Investing in how the next generation understand and interacts with big data and AI is an investment that will pay off in the long run for all of us.


On KevinMD, Sam Wainwright, an analyst for New America's Health Policy Program, discusses how difficult yet vitally important it is for doctors and patients alike to understand medical risk information. ' Citing a New York Times Opinionator piece titled Chances Are, from 2010, Wainwright writes:
'To make sure patients are fully informed means conveying information about a procedure's risks and benefits in a way they can understand, often when there is neither the time nor presence of mind for SAT-caliber mathematical agility. The lack of accurate and evidence-based guidelines further complicates the situation. For many treatments, we know neither the true probability of success nor how to explain it clearly to a sick and worried patient'[but] patients MUST be fully informed. Only with an understanding of the risks'can a patient make the decision that is right for them."
Wainwright's post, Why the human brain seems to struggle with comprehending risk, underscores Jessie Gruman's message in Should Doctors Protect Us from Data about Medical Risks?. ' Her answer, in a word, is no:
'It seems unconscionable to withhold well-presented risk information about treatment in the relatively few instances when it is available'In their most general form, decision tools communicate that we have choices ' that multiple treatment options are possible, there are trade-offs to be considered, and no guarantees exist regardless of our choice.' These are sobering but important messages for us to grasp as all of us, regardless of our numeracy skills and cognitive biases, are routinely forced to make critical decisions about our health care."
The key to understanding medical risk is that the data are well-presented. Do you agree?' Was there ever a time when you would have rather not known the risks?' Or, did knowing the odds sway your decision?'


Art masterpieces are an incredible source of learning opportunities. Through studying and discussing art children learn to pay attention to small details, colours, use of space, shapes and creativity.
Among pictures of masterpieces that we received from Montessori By Mom with the Art Appreciation toolbox my daughter especially loved painting done by Wassily Kandinsky – Russian artist. Kandinsky also was a musician and often drew his inspiration from music. Kandinsky said: “each colour lives by its mysterious life.” You can notice that his work is filled with vivid colours, various shapes and lines – which is a perfect inspiration for a young child.
His painting inspired us to look into the use of shapes in art and in everyday life. Montessori Shape Workbook included in Montessori by Mom toolbox was a great way to start. It presented different forms that we can easily find in our environment.
After reading the book, A was ready to create a picture using different shapes. We turned on classical music and prepared all our tools:
– picture of Kandinsky’s painting that A chose
– shapes cut out of colour paper
– glue and brush
– a mini-masterpiece on a mini isle taken from the Art Appreciation Toolbox
Later A was happy to extend this activity using colourful shapes – Designer Blocks. It brought a new dimension and gave an opportunity to reinforce the idea of using shapes for creativity.
I love this aspect of Montessori Art education when children learn to appreciate classic works of art because children get a glimpse into the world of great artists and their inner life by studying their work from early childhood.
My girl thoroughly enjoyed this process. How do I know? Because she kept telling me that she would like to make a picture inspired by Kandinsky almost daily.
We both enjoyed this process a lot and will continue looking for inspiration from the masterpieces of great artists.
If you are interested in learning more about Montessori By Mom, I invite you to visit their store.


At the turn of the millennium an estimated 115 million children of school age were not in school; the 2011 estimate is 57 million. What dispute can there be over the value of the consensus among donors and national governments that has brought this about?
In the past two decades, the Education for All agenda and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have focused minds, aligned bilateral and multilateral agencies, and driven national policies in a unified direction: the provision of basic schooling of acceptable quality for all learners.
While the MDGs will not be achieved by 2015, massive strides have been made towards those original MDG targets. Primary school enrolment has risen across the world, and the rise in girls’ participation in schooling has been particularly dramatic.
Given what we know about the potential returns from investment in education for prosperity, health, and emancipation, why would this not be grounds for cheer?
I would argue that, as a consensus-building and investment-informing mantra, ‘quality basic education for development’ has (at least) four problems embedded in it. They are: quality, basic, education, and development.
First, a reminder of a couple of uncomfortable facts – the flip-side of the enrolment good-news story.
The new Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR 2013/2014) and others describe a ‘learning crisis’. About 250 million children do not have basic literacy and numeracy skills. In other words, a lot of them are in school but they are not learning anything.
And, given that there is only so much investment to go around, basic education has displaced secondary and higher education in the queue for resources. Yet new cohorts of primary school graduates are simultaneously creating greater demand for higher levels of education.
So, to those four problems. With the issue of quality, it’s difficult to know where to start. The learning crisis, combined with a wide body of research, shows that although enrolment has increased, quality has not. In some cases, the massive influx of children into schools that are under-resourced in every possible way has worsened quality. Classes of up to 100 children can be found in the poorest contexts.
Consensus goals and the pressures and monitoring processes that go with them have also been part of this problem. Quality is a variable that is complex, dependent on many factors, and difficult to measure; enrolment ratios are far more manageable. Consensus goals help to fuel a fetish for measurability and a neglect of anything too complicated.
Even the recent GMR, teasingly entitled Teaching and Learning, does not venture very far into the messy territory of what constitutes quality teaching. Meanwhile, underqualified, under-motivated and under-resourced teachers face competing imperatives: some agencies push for learner-centred teaching styles, while others focus on reductionist indicators of literacy and formulaic, front-led approaches to teaching.
What of the remaining three words of the mantra – basic, education, and development? Recent DLP-funded research in Ghana, by a team from CfBT Education Trust and the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, helps illuminate the difficulties they present.
While the current consensus is the primacy of basic education, these findings show that experiences of quality secondary and tertiary education were especially important to the personal and professional development of the successful developmental leaders interviewed.
They also demonstrate that quality education is much more than the school curriculum and simple measurable cognitive outcomes.
The very definition of education needs to embrace the development of ethical principles and citizenship skills, the building of networks and a capacity for critical thinking. Opportunities for discussion and debate, admired role models, extracurricular activities, and a strong school ethos are all key factors.
Finally, the findings remind us that the human capital and individual health returns which so often underpin arguments for investment in education for development only take a country so far. Political development is vital to the sustainable health of any nation. This research shows how this form of development, on which all the others depend, is facilitated by individuals and their networks who have experienced quality education (in its broadest sense) at the higher levels of the system.
The discussion about what happens after the MDG deadline of 2015 is an opportunity for the international community to think critically about what is really at the heart of education and development.
Thankfully, there are indications in the ongoing debate that secondary and higher education are back on the table, along with (at least in some quarters) broader understandings of learning outcomes. Further case studies on how these have contributed to development in different contexts will be important contributions to the evidence that informs future directions, whether or not these constitute a new consensus.
Originally posted on the DLP website on 07 April 2014.


Updated: Mar 18
Here is what we’ve learned through experience about why arts integration is so important:
1.Working in the arts helps learners to develop creative problem-solving skills.
2.Teaching through the arts can present difficult concepts visually, making them more easy to understand.
3.Art instruction helps children with the development of motor skills, language skills, social skills, decision-making, risk-taking, and inventiveness.
4.Visual arts teach learners about color, layout, perspective, and balance: all techniques that are necessary in presentations (visual, digital) of academic work.
5.Integrating art with other disciplines reaches students who might not otherwise be engaged in classwork.
6.Arts experiences boost critical thinking, teaching students to take the time to be more careful and thorough in how they observe the world.
7.The arts provide challenges for learners at all levels.
8. Art education connects students with their own culture as well as with the wider world.
9. A report by Americans for the Arts states that young people who participate regularly in the arts (one to three hours a day on three days each week through one full year) are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair, or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate.
10.A study of Missouri public schools in 2010 found that greater arts education led to fewer disciplinary infractions and higher attendance, graduation rates, and test scores.
Mira offer affordable art classes in Wallington, New Jersey.
Please feel free to contact me 201-657-4999 or register on this link


Oral language development is the basis for all other literacy development. Children must first develop their oral language skills (listening and speaking), and then they will be able to participate in reading and writing. Here is one of the first activities I do with my early childhood students in our literacy class to emphasize oral language development. It’s easy to do and produces new words and sentences quickly and in a very interactive way.
This activity can be done with preschoolers and up. The older the children are, the more they can do in the activity. Read on and see what I mean…
First choose a photograph – I suggest choosing an interesting picture involving an animal. This always seems to get children’s attention. Google Images is always the first place I look. The picture above of the bird on the lily pad is an example of one that I have used. Print it out large enough for the children to see when they are sitting down in front of it in a large group setting. This will happen later.
Hang it up where the children can see it easily before you meet as a large group. You can display it on an easel or on the wall/chalkboard.Chances are they will notice it and start talking about it. Even little ones will go up and touch it and babble a bit about what they see. After you have given the children some time to do this on their own, gather them as a group in front of the picture. Then do the following:
– Ask the children to look at the picture and tell you what they see. As they call out words, write them in list form on an easel or piece of chart paper. Make sure to use nice and neat teacher handwriting so the children can read and recognize the letters and words! Here is short list as an example:
– When you feel they have exhausted their ideas, read the list back with them. Point to each word as you read.
– Next ask the children to tell you some sentences about the picture. You can prompt them by asking them guiding questions (What do you think is happening in the picture?), but try to let the children provide the sentences. As they offer sentences, write them in list form. If the children are old enough, you can have them write at this point. Just make sure they are comfortable doing this in front of the class and they can do it in a reasonable amount of time. If not, you write in your nice teacher handwriting and model writing for them. Here is another short example:
– After this is exhausted, read each sentence back as a group. Don’t forget to point to each word as you read.
At the end of the activity, hang the words and sentences next to the picture somewhere in your classroom where the children can see it and refer to it often. They may want to add to either list or make one of their own.
So what does this do for Oral Language Development??
This type of activity allows children to look at a realistic photograph and generate their own ideas about it. As they orally share their ideas, they are also able to hear each other’s words and sentences, thereby learning new words and phrases. They learn new describing words and action words, all while practicing putting their ideas into clear verbal communications. Each child is given the opportunity to participate in an oral conversation about the picture, and leaves this activity with more words in their vocabulary. Try it and see what the children come up with!
A different twist on this activity:
Type (or write) one sentence next to the picture as if it is part of a story or as a way to describe what is happening. Read the sentence to the children and then ask the children to share their ideas based on what you read.


By: Aaron Zimmerman
Ask an adult who studied piano about scales, and they will likely roll their eyes and scowl. Scales bring boring repetition to mind. We tend to think of them the way football players think of push ups. “That’s three wrong notes in a row, drop and gimme F# Major!”
But this is unfortunate. Scales are our friends, they make music easier to understand and learn. Scales are one of the building blocks of music.
A scale is a collection of notes, usually formed by a pattern of intervals. The scale is named by the note it starts on, and the pattern the intervals follow from there. The “Major” pattern goes:
If you start this pattern on a C, you would play all of the white notes, yielding the C major scale. Stay tuned for a follow up post that will go into detail on other scale patterns.
From a practical standpoint, music is full of actual scales. Once you can play scales, you can play most Beethoven and Mozart. Ok, there is a bit more to it, but not much really. Page after page will just be variations on playing a scale up and down.
Learning to play scales
Phase 1 – “Four finger” scales. A few months into lessons, after basic concepts like rhythm, counting, etc, are mastered, students can begin playing one octave scales, with the notes split between the hands. So, using C Major as an example, the left hand plays “C, D, E, F” (starting with the 4th finger), and then the right hand plays “G, A, B, C” (starting with the thumb).
Phase 2 – Start thinking about scales as patterns, not just notes. This is emphasized by the observation that you can move the root of a scale up a fifth, and play the same notes you just played, with the middle finger of your right hand playing a half note higher than previous. That is, take the notes from C major, play them starting on a G, only raising the third finger of your right hand a half step. And this can be repeated through the whole circle of fifths. The inverse is also possible, move the root down a fifth, and now lower the thumb of your left hand a half step.
Phase 3 – Start playing scales 2 octaves, hands together at a moderately slow tempo. Usually this is somewhere in the late beginner, early intermediate stage, whenever it is technically possible to cross fingers. From there move quickly through the scales, not worrying about perfecting the fingering or perfectly smooth playing, but rather emphasizing the scale as a pattern in and of itself. The starting note doesn’t really matter.
Phase 4 – Play scales 4 octaves at a time, at a moderately fast tempo. Emphasize smoothness in crossing over fingers, play all notes with a consistent, solid tone. Introduce variations like playing in triplets, playing staccato to keep it interesting. Part 2 will give some more examples on variations to try.
Scale Finger Patterns
No piano fingering is one size fits all, but there are well established scale fingerings that will probably work the best. With 2.5 simple rules, remembering when to use which finger is easy:
1) Never play a black key with your thumb
2) Play in groups of 3 and 4
2.5) Try to minimize the number of cross overs
Try it, it really is that easy. Scales that include a lot of black keys are the easiest because of rule 1. If you only have 2 white keys, you know right off which keys your thumb will play. Note that this is only true for 7 note scales.
Scales lend themselves to warm up sessions. They are not technically challenging (at least not after a few years of practice), and they are a good pivot point for your brain and your fingers to shift into music mode.
But don’t think of scales as just for warming up. There is a theoretical side to them that makes them an integral part of any music education.
Keep an eye our for part 2, wherin I will give details on different types of common scales, and suggest some ways you can vary scale practice to keep it challenging and engaging.


Morris Jeff Community School Programme of Inquiry:
At MJCS we use the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) framework and the Louisiana state standards to develop our curriculum and our Programme of Inquiry. The Programme of Inquiry consists of six transdisciplinary units taught at each grade level (Pre-K has four units). Students inquire into a unit within each theme every year. These units are transdisciplinary; teachers integrate the traditional subject areas into each unit as well as teach subject specifics as needed. As an IB school, we encourage inquiry and structure learning to allow students to be actively involved in their own learning through asking questions, experimenting, researching, collecting data, deepening understanding, and solving problems in diverse ways. Our units also encourage learning about both local and global communities and issues.
The six transdisciplinary themes are:
- Who we are: An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.
- Where we are in place and time: An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations, and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.
- How we express ourselves: An inquiry into the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic.
- How the world works: An inquiry into the natural world and its laws; the interaction between the natural world (physical and biological) and human societies; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on society and on the environment.
- How we organize ourselves: An inquiry into the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the structure and function of organizations; societal decision-making; economic activities and their impact on humankind and the environment.
- Sharing the planet: An inquiry into rights and responsibilities in the struggle to share finite resources with other people and with other living things; communities and the relationships within and between them; access to equal opportunities; peace and conflict resolution.
Reading and Writing
Reading and writing instruction is part of the Programme of Inquiry as students read and write texts related to their units of inquiry. MJCS utilizes a balanced literacy approach which includes Louisiana-approved Tier 1 curriculum (Core Knowledge Language Arts, Wit & Wisdom, and Louisiana Guidebooks), reading and writing workshop, read aloud, shared reading and writing, guided reading, and instruction in foundational skills and conventions, such as phonics, handwriting, spelling, and grammar. Students also practice skills, explore, and research topics of interest through technology including the Lexia reading program, NewsELA, and google classroom. Students participate in weekly library classes to enhance their literacy skills and love of reading and learning!
MJCS follows the Eureka math curriculum in grades PK-5, the only math curriculum to earn the highest rating in the state of Louisiana’s curriculum review process. Eureka encourages deep understanding of key mathematical concepts, real-life application, and the procedural fluency necessary for excellence and rigor in mathematics. Eureka’s approach is one that embraces inquiry and connections to real-life uses of math on a daily basis. Students also have the opportunity to learn math through Zearn, an online version of Eureka, as well as other digital programs. Whenever possible, students apply the math they have learned as part of their IB units.
Science and Social Studies
Science and Social Studies are fully integrated into our Programme of Inquiry and form the basis for many of our units of inquiry. We utilize a variety of resources including PhD Science, Mystery Science, digital resources, and resources from the state of Louisiana.
MJCS believes in educating the whole child including regular enrichment classes. Depending on the grade level, MJCS students participate in weekly classes in Music, Movement, Visual Arts, Physical Education, Technology and Library. Our enrichment teachers teach the content of their specialty areas while also connecting to our Programme of Inquiry.
Beginning in Pre-K, students have daily Spanish classes. Emphasis is placed on authentic and meaningful lessons, activities, and projects. Spanish classes also learn about the culture and people of the Spanish-speaking world as part of a global community.


Chintan Girish Modi
Teacher Plus profiles Islamabad based artist, filmmaker, and educator Fouzia Minallah who aims to inspire in children a love of art that thrives in their surroundings and their traditions, not just in books, art galleries, and the Internet.
What is the role of art in the school curriculum today? Most of us believe in the value that art adds to a child’s education, but how does one make a case to show that the arts are not dispensable? True, what Art brings to a child’s development is beyond school academics; but perhaps to allow the arts to flourish within a school curriculum, we have to find justifications of its importance within the curriculum.
Why are the arts so important in school you ask? Because they are the best means of helping children open up and express themselves, thereby giving teachers a true understanding of their students. Teachers can then make use of this knowledge in the way they teach their students.
Education is given to children so that they can lead good, complete lives tomorrow. The purpose of art education is no different. Art must be taught in schools to help nurture a child’s natural senses so that they understand the world better and therefore live their lives better.
Why should art be taught in schools? Obviously not every student becomes an artist. There is a limit to using arts to teach other subjects. And as for the attitudes and ways of thinking that art develops, there are other ways too to enhance human values. So why teach art? Art helps all of us, even the non-artists, appreciate beauty and express emotions when we find words limiting. And that is an important thing to learn in today’s world.
Government school teachers in Karnataka are being given a fillip in their teaching careers. India Foundation for the Arts, an organization set up for the promotion of education in the arts in India, is training these teachers in good teaching practices using the arts, thereby opening up more and more teachers to the idea of using art to teach.
Which child doesn’t enjoy cartoons? One or the other has caught every child’s fascination. So let’s make the most of the idea and laugh our way into learning.
The multiple intelligence theory is quite a popular theory but perhaps not always a practical one. How should a teacher with 60 children in class cater to each student’s intelligence and finish teaching her subject? The answer might lie in a film making project.
Why is art always seen as an “extra” curricular activity in school? Art can and should become an integral part of the learning system. From her 40 years of using art as a medium of teaching, the author tells readers how art can be integrated into everyday schooling.
Using the arts as a teaching-learning approach. Fascinating, isn’t it? But not practical you say? See how arts can become the medium of teaching the more “regular” subjects in school.


MAC - Maths Across the Curriculum
St Damian’s Launch MAC Initiative
Maths Across the Curriculum (MAC) continues to grow from strength to strength. It is a new initiative aimed at recognising, rewarding and promoting good numeracy skills in all subjects.
Numeracy focuses on some of the basic skills important in life – simple addition, division, multiplication etc are used by everyone on a daily basis to buy things, to manage bank accounts etc. We also use other skills associated with “being numerate” such as problem solving, estimation, proportion, working with scale, money, exchange rates etc. MAC aims to ensure that these skills are all taught consistently and effectively across the school.
In addition to pupils who were MAC Ambassadors last year, we have selected a new group from YR7 (see photograph). A number of pupils have been selected within each year group to become MAC Ambassadors. Their role is to offer other pupils in non-maths subjects, help with any of the MAC skills required in that topic. Maths is used extensively in Science, Geography, Technology, Art and other less obvious subjects. If MAC Ambassadors see pupils or teachers using good MAC skills, they can nominate the individual for a coverted MAC badge. Three blue badges qualify for a gold badge and three gold badges qualifies for a £50 voucher!
If you see your child wearing a MAC badge, please praise them for their excellent work using Maths in non maths subjects.
Form Time Numeracy
Pupils have been provided a numeracy booklet to complete in form time that supplements their teaching in maths lessons. Form Tutors provide these booklets once a week so that pupils can practice basic numeracy skills. In addition, pupils are challenged with “Number Magic” tricks and “estimation questions” for them to discuss and develop key number skills. Do you know how many toilet sheets are in a typical toilet roll?.
Support Staff Celebrate
The School Support team receiving their MAC badges for recognition of the immense and critical numerate work they do to support the school and governors. What a brilliant team. We are lucky to have them at St Damian’s.


Our Primary School Programme offers a vital educational opportunity for your school.
All our programmes support the Primary Schools Curriculum by highlighting social and environmental issues, developing numeracy and literacy skills and bringing curriculum subjects to life in a fun and relevant way. Our highly experienced facilitators will deliver these specifically tailored Programmes in a creative, safe and fun learning environment. The mission of all our programmes is to expand on the following essential skills:
- Critical thinking
- Creative problem solving
- Confidence in their own capabilities
- Curiosity and experimentation
- Teamwork and collaboration
- Patience and concentration
- Communication and expression of ideas
We can work with students from Junior Infants to Sixth Class. We combine creative arts and drama to encourage pupils to think and act imaginatively and spontaneously. These workshops will help bring the children’s potential to the forefront, while instilling them with a greater confidence.
Workshops in the Classroom include:
- Make your own Radio Play
- Creative DIY (Drama and arts In You)
- In their Shoes – Empathy and Respect Workshop
- Introduction to Shakespeare
Our CPD courses are approved by the Department of Education and Skills and have been built around the learning aims and objectives from the Primary school curriculum: Drama (DES, 1999). The strand ‘drama to explore feelings, knowledge and ideas, leading to understanding’ is addressed within the strand units ‘exploring and making drama’, ‘reflecting on drama’ and ‘co-operating and communicating in making drama’ are explored. Each course is divided into strands addressing in a multidisciplinary means all the core curriculum subjects at Primary level. Contact firstname.lastname@example.org to be added to our mailing list for info on upcoming CPD courses.
Dramatic arts education is an important way of stimulating creativity. It can challenge students perceptions about their world and about themselves, students overcome difficulties with speaking in public and help to develop tolerance and empathy in students.
Each year our education outreach programme selects new projects that will enrich and enhance students’ education while also staying relevant to the themes and issues of the current year. Check out the video below to see some examples of our previous projects:


Students will learn about and practice the reading comprehension strategy of evaluating with this short video and two interactives from Into the Book.
In the video, Mrs. Pingel realizes they are ready for a new strategy while students are doing research for a science project. She introduces evaluating using examples from students' own lives and class book reviews. Malaika begins evaluating her space resources, and is drawn into a NASA web site, where she has to use the strategy to get out of a space emergency in her own rocket ship. She also manages to use the strategy to get a new dog from the Humane Society.
In the first interactive — Space Race — students learn to critically evaluate websites while racing to build and launch a rocket during this activity. To build each stage of their rocket, they must choose which website would be the most useful source for a particular research task. The program guides students to apply specific criteria to the task, evaluating for appropriate information, reliability, and currency.
In the second interactive — Journey to Magla — students voyage to the star system Magla. They have four books in their spaceship, which they use to help them evaluate the three planets in the star system and decide on which to land for each part of their mission. They must also evaluate the books based on their usefulness for each task.
Into the Book is a reading comprehension multimedia resource. Students learn to use reading comprehension strategies including: prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating and synthesizing. This resource includes educational videos, online activities, professional learning videos and teacher tools. Discover more at reading.ecb.org.


Preparing children for preschool
There are many ways parents can assist in preparing their children for preschool. At Kidscape, our children are well prepared to go to Big School.
Here are five simple ways:
1.Reading with Your Child:
We all read to our children; however, reading with your child is even more beneficial for their early literacy development. When you sit down and read a story with your child, ask questions and talk about what they think is happening. Encourage your child to sit down and have some quiet time with some books by themselves. Have their books where they can reach them and encourage them to sit down and look through them when they want. Just remember a picture can tell a thousand words- ask your child what the pictures are telling them about the story. Your child does not need to know how to read the words in the story to comprehend what is happening in it.
2. Improving Communication:
Help encourage language development by talking with your child. Expressive language will assist in preparation for contributing to conversations and asking questions when they start school. Through communicating with your child, they can develop many skills both mentally and socially. Communication and language skills assist in the development of understanding various social skills to assist your child in being able to communicate appropriately with their peers.
3. Building Fine Motor Skills:
To help your child develop their fine motor skills provide them with the simple activities such as playdough, puzzles, tongs and scissors. This will help them develop the muscles in their hand which are required to develop correct pencil grip. Show your child how to hold a pencil properly, and encourage this when they are writing or colouring. Teach children how to hold scissors and discuss the process of cutting. Give your child plenty of opportunity to practice and build these skills.
4. Teaching Your Child Independence/Self-Help Skills:
Help your child to become independent by encouraging them to do simple things for themselves including dressing, toileting and feeding themselves. This means they may take a little longer to do things, but this is a fundamental life skill for them to develop and they will soon become efficient with practice – which is not only great for them, but will also save you a lot of time!
- Encourage children to pour themselves drinks using a jug or using cutlery to eat their food.
- Practicing how to put shoes and socks on.
- Your child can choose between eating a banana or an apple for morning tea, what spread to put on their sandwich.
- Choosing what activity they want to do or play with.
Encouraging a child to make choices promotes autonomy and independence.
5. Toilet Training Your Child
This is an important skill for your child to develop. Most schools require your child to be able to use the toilet independently before they begin. Give your child opportunities to sit on the toilet to get used it and talk to them about using the toilet particularly when you are changing their nappy.
By implementing these actions they help both you and your child prepare for school!
By Lisa Lamont


The Yamaha Music Education System (YMES)
Structured Music Education System for Children and Adults
Designed to meet the unique needs and developmental stages of each age group, Yamaha programs develop each student’s comprehensive musical ability in an environment that inspires a love of music and a lifetime of active music participation.
Yamaha develops musical skills with three fundamental principles:
Introducing the Fundamentals of Music from the Start
In order for children to enjoy music and to absorb and understand the given material easily, we believe it is best to give them appropriate guidance in accordance with the degree of their physical and mental development. Based upon this concept of timely education, the Yamaha method introduces music fundamentals to children at the time when their hearing capabilities are rapidly developing.
We All Learn Better in Groups
Group lessons have many advantages that enable children to enjoy rich musical experiences such as making friends through music, developing cooperativeness and deepening understanding of music through participation in ensembles. For this purpose, Yamaha has adopted a method whereby students can listen and play in a group, learning music while enjoying it.
Learning Through Creating
In order to enable students to develop their creative capabilities, it is important to help them develop the ability to express themselves by thinking freely. We hope to help them acquire and enhance sensitivity and imagination, which are both sources of creativity, through our comprehensive system of music education.
The Psychology of Group Lessons
In a group there is peer motivation such that a student will want to perform well in front of and with his/her peers.
In a group the student learns to collaborate and perform with others in various ensembles.
It Takes the Pressure Off
In a group, pressure is not constantly on one individual, allowing music skills to be nurtured in a relaxed and friendly environment conducive to learning.


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


New research suggests having — or lacking — certain numeracy skills can help predict chronic disease outcomes. The study, conducted by rheumatologists and psychologists at The Ohio State University, assessed “objective numeracy” (math skills) and “numeric confidence” (having confidence in one’s own math abilities) among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
Their results found that lupus patients who are good with numbers and feel confident in their math abilities had less disease activity. This finding may help researchers develop more effective patient engagement strategies.
Math struggles may correlate with health struggles
Previous research has shown that around one-third of American adults are innumerate, meaning they have a hard time understanding or performing basic math. And for people with chronic diseases that affect multiple organs, innumeracy can significantly impact disease management.
“Rheumatic diseases like lupus have a level of complexity that’s different from many other medical conditions,” says rheumatologist and co-principal investigator Alexa Meara, MD, MS, assistant professor, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology. “To keep their lupus under control, patients face complicated tests and treatments that often require math skills. They may need to take different doses of multiple medications at specific times of day, understand the results of lab tests or precisely taper down steroids.”
But being good at math may not be enough to guarantee better health outcomes. The study results, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in September 2019, showed that success in managing a complex disease also requires numeric confidence.
Mismatched skills predictive of poorer outcomes
The two-year study was designed with the help of co-principal investigator Ellen Peters, PhD, an internationally renowned decision scientist who studies how to improve decision-making by increasing numeracy. Dr. Peters, a former professor of psychology at Ohio State, is now director of the University of Oregon’s Media Center for Science and Technology.
More than 90 patients from Ohio State’s Lupus, Vasculitis and Glomerulonephritis Registry participated in the numeracy study. They took tests that measured their objective math skills and filled out questionnaires that measured how confident and self-assured they felt using numbers.
“As we predicted, patients whose lupus is well controlled were more likely to have strong objective math skills and high subjective confidence,” says Dr. Meara, who is an assistant professor – clinical at the College of Medicine. “Perhaps more importantly, ‘mismatched’ skills were tied to worse outcomes. Patients with low math skills and high confidence — meaning they thought they were good at math but scored poorly on the test — were most likely to need further lupus treatments compared to the other participants.”
Specifically, their findings showed that:
- Among the most numerate patients, those who were also highly confident had only a 7% chance of having harmful disease activity
- Patients with good math skills but little confidence, which may indicate a willingness to give up easily, were 31% more likely to have disease activity
- Patients with low math skills but high confidence were 44% more likely to have disease activity
- The low confidence/low skill group do better than the discordant group of high confidence/low skill
Improving outcomes by removing obstacles
The team plans to continue their numeracy research among patients with a different autoimmune disease: vasculitis. If their results are consistent — meaning increased disease flares correlate with mismatched numeracy scores — it may provide momentum for clinicians to create targeted interventions.
“An eventual next step may be finding practical ways to identify this subset of high-risk, chronic disease patients,” says Dr. Meara.
In the meantime, she adds, their results serve as a reminder for physicians to identify barriers that make it hard for patients to understand and follow their treatment plans.
“If our patients don’t adhere to their medication regimen or make recommended lifestyle changes, we shouldn’t assume they’re not engaged,” she says. “Instead, we should aim to meet them where they’re at, in a nonjudgmental way, and help them overcome those barriers to the best of their abilities.”


Creative Homework Tasks for 7-9 Year Oldsby Giles Hughes
The imaginative, open-ended activities in Creative Homework Tasks for 7-9 Year Olds are sure to spark enthusiasm and lead to unprecedented behaviour - your lower Key Stage 2 children asking YOU for homework.
The tasks provide genuine opportunities to use and apply language and numeracy skills so are ideal for setting as English or maths homework. Some have links to other subjects, including science and technology, art and design and PSHE.
Giles Hughes, the author, has spent months of research, trialling the ideas in a number of Year 3 and Year 4 classrooms. All the activities have been specifically designed to stimulate children's imaginations and bring out the creative element in every child, whilst providing genuine opportunities to practise essential skills.
Even the most recalcitrant children will be keen to rise to the challenge of these homework tasks. Ideas include:
- Duster Slippers for Cats
- Word Squares
- Plotting Points
- Odd One Out
- Design a Robo-pet
- Sahara Survival
- Talking Hands
- Living by the Rules
- Haunted House
|Age Groups||7 - 11 years,|
|Product format||Teacher resource|
|Market restriction||There are no market restrictions for this book.|


Raccoons – The Expert Thieves
What animal is an expert thief and wears a mask as a disguise? If you guessed raccoon, you’re right. Raccoons live throughout the United States. They live in forests and woodlands, but they also live near farms and even in cities. Because they’re so smart, they can adapt to different areas.
Raccoons are about the size of a medium dog. They have a bushy, ringed tails and a black mask across their faces. They look cute, but they are wild animals. They can bite and scratch and some carry diseases.
Fun Facts about Raccoons for Kids
- Raccoons are omnivores. They eat almost anything, including clams, fish, nuts, fruit, lizards, insects and the occasional squirrel or mouse.
- Raccoons can get into trouble with people. They dig through trash cans or compost bins. They eat dog food and might even crawl under your house or into openings in the attic.
- Raccoons love raiding vegetable gardens. They knock over cornstalks to get the corn and devour small melons!
- Raccoons are nocturnal. They are awake during the night and sleep in the day.
- Most raccoons only live two or three years. Some are hit by cars. Others are eaten by predators or get sick.
- Apart from the US raccoons can be found in Canada and parts of Mexico.
- Raccoons have predators such as; Coyote, Bobcat, Cougar, Dog and large birds of prey like Eagles and Owls.
- Thief: Steals from others
- Disguise: Something that hides your identity
- Adapt: Survive or change
- Omnivore: Eats both plants and meat
- Predator: An animal that hunts other animals
Learn More All About Raccoons
Watch this fun video all about raccoons:
A short informational video about raccoon facts.
Question: Do raccoon moms take care of their young?
Answer: Raccoon moms usually have two or three babies, called kits. Raccoon moms keep their babies safe in dens. After two or three months, the babies start exploring. By 6 months of age, they’re ready to go out on their own.
Question: Do raccoons wash their food?
Answer: Raccoons often dip their food in water, but scientists don’t think they are washing it. They probably just like the feeling of the water on their paws.
Cite This Page
You may cut-and-paste the below MLA and APA citation examples:
MLA Style Citation
Declan, Tobin. " Raccoon Fun Facts for Kids ." Easy Science for Kids, Sep 2020. Web. 21 Sep 2020. < https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-raccoons/ >.
APA Style Citation
Tobin, Declan. (2020). Raccoon Fun Facts for Kids. Easy Science for Kids. Retrieved from https://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-raccoons/
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After listening to Jack and the Beanstalk, the students retold key parts of the story. As an introduction to the design process, the students used pipe cleaners to create the tallest model of a beanstalk possible. After comparing the heights of the beanstalk models, the students tested the strength of the stalk by adding a golden egg to the top. The students reviewed the terms: structure and function. They were introduced to the Design Process and evaluation.
Welcome to the STEAM Studio Blog for Jamestown Upper & Lower Elementary Schools in Hudsonville, MI. Here you will find the latest projects and concepts we've been working on in class.
comes to Hudsonville with 17 years of teaching information and technology skills to elementary students. After earning a BA in Elementary Education at the University of Northern Iowa and a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa in 2000, she drew a circle on the map and chose Southwest Michigan.


Yesterday I posted Part I of our Music Notation unit. Today, I present to you Part II. I music give credit where credit is due and thanks to MakingMusicFun.net once again for making some great music education resources.
After finishing our centers from Part I, I then had my students pair off with their same partner from the centers to complete the note names from the worksheet, Name That Tune! All students had to share responsibility with their partners for completing the worksheet – once completed, I checked off their correct answers and assigned them an Orff instrument.
Each pair of students used their instrument to play the notes on their worksheet to “Name That Tune.” It was absolutely fabulous watching their eyes light up as they discovered each tune – “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” “Jingle Bells, ” etc. We ended up having to stop class mid-activity since our class period is 50 minutes (we had finished up our last center during the first 15-20 minutes of class). Depending on time constraints, allow time to “check” our answers and if your students are advanced enough, play the 1st 4 measures of the song together on their instruments.
Stay tuned for Part III….


Keeping students learning under Covid-19 pandemics imposes challenges to education never seen in Brazil. It starts by its size: more than 47 million students are outside school to contain the virus. But it also exposes how networks were unprepared: teachers had to adapt overnight to teach remotely and vulnerable children see low-educated parents replacing their teachers on homeschooling. Internet connection does not reach vulnerable households and local authorities have to offer alternatives to facilitate remote learning. The mental burden on students, parents and teachers due to lockdown and uncertainty makes learning, teaching and parenting even harder. Amid the pandemics and beyond, there are several hurdles to take into account.
Recent learning poverty estimates suggest that 42.2 percent of 10-year-olds in Brazil do not understand an age-appropriate text. Already critical, Covid-19 pandemics tends to further deteriorate this scenario. The World Bank simulates that school closures due Covid-19 may raise the learning poverty by 2.6 pp, reaching 44.8 percent of children. But the consequences go deeper than harming foundational skills and learning in other subjects. In the short-run, the same estimates show that the proportion of children not enrolled in school may increase 0.1 pp for primary school-aged children. In other terms, coronavirus can backtrack the equivalent of one year of the recent progress in education in Brazil.
To mitigate such decline, governments have been investing in strategies to keep learning under the pandemics. For that, policies are utilizing preexistent infrastructure, aiming to provide teachers the right preparation and combining technologies to include the greatest number of students possible. Under these circumstances, effective remote learning and teacher training in the pedagogical use of technology are complementary policies. In Brazil, at least 60% of teachers express as “highly necessary” the provision of technology training during 2017.
Schools also work as a safety net for families. A significant proportion of children only find healthy and regular meals at schools. For families, and particularly to women that are often the primarily responsible for childcare, school closures can mean accumulating home office and childcare activities. But even for those able to find alternatives during the pandemic, it is important to note that parental support to child’s schoolwork correlates strongly with socioeconomic status. For these reasons, it is fundamental to support parental engagement on child’s education during Covid-19 pandemics – especially when the focus is on mitigating learning inequalities.
To better understand how students are vulnerable to school closures, an alternative is to combine in one index the availability of school meals; the use technology in the classroom; family support; if the student works outside the household; his performance in standardized tests and the probability of dropping out from school. The index exploring these characteristics is shown in Figures 1 and 2 and assumes that low-performing students that dropped out in the past are more vulnerable to the pandemics when school meals are cut, teachers are unprepared for remote teaching, and families are less engaged in homeschooling, than students on the opposite situation.
Figure 1 and 2 indicate that further efforts to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on learning should be concentrated in the north and northeast parts of Brazil. Particularly, more vulnerable students are in Pará, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Maranhão, Amazonas and Paraíba. They are more than .10 points above the national average of .52 in terms of vulnerability to the pandemics. Students from Distrito Federal, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Tocantins, Minas Gerais and Paraná are in a less vulnerable position, for instance differences within the state must be considered.
Reopening schools demands careful planning. The first step is structuring a clear protocol prioritizing safety for all students. This plan must systematize the reopening but also an eventual closure in case of a new Covid-19 case occurs at school. In that stage, it is essential to establish an open dialogue with families, teachers and society to build trust on the reopening protocol. Local governments should also prepare their social protection systems already in place to attract students at risk of not getting back to school and distribute basic food baskets conditioned on returning. Once back, schools need to set early warning systems and monitor youth students at risk of dropping out from school.
Focused learning programs are fundamental to remedy learning gaps caused by the pandemics. Priority must be given to mitigation measures within the school and the school network. Upon return, applying standardized exams can map learning delays and trigger personalized policies for the most affected students. Small tutoring groups; re-deployment of teachers; discussion groups to alleviate the mental health; and flexible technical programs are similar alternatives of policies.


Monsters | Trouble at the Day Scare Centre | Kids Learn Math for Kids | Educational Cartoons
Welcome to WildBrain Learning for Kids! Click here for more videos just like this:
Monster Math Squad 106 — Trouble at the Day Scare Centre | Math Cartoons for Kids | HD | Learn Math
A call comes in over the Scream Screen — its Mrs. Mopely, the Monster Day Scare teacher. Her little monsters are having trouble playing with their scary face balloons as they keep floating away. The Monster Math Squad drop by and help them out by knowing all about things being LIGHT!
Got a problem with a pesky Picky Eater Monster who only wants to eat three round red things at precisely seven o’clock on Thursdays? Have no fear (well, maybe a little…) the Monster Math Squad is here! The Monster Math Squad love to use their monster math skills to help their fellow monsters in trouble. Monstrovia is an alpine village with a twist: There are monster houses, abominable fridge monsters, monster doormats, TV monsters and vacuum cleaner monsters – in fact it’s just one great big monster world! Monstrovia is a monstrously mixed-up place with uniquely monstrous problems. The laws of physics, math, common sense and personal hygiene don’t matter much to monsters. Try crossing the street with Backs Up Everywhere Monster Truck on the loose, not to mention the fact that the traffic light can’t count how long red should be on for. Monstrovia needs some serious sorting out. These monster-sized challenges require monster-sized solutions that only the math-loving Monster Math Squad can provide. Monster Math Squad stars MAX, LILY and GOO. While they may not be the biggest, or bravest (or even the brainiest) monsters on the block, the Squad love nothing better than to put their monster minds together and use their math skills to overcome any obstacle they face… even ones with two left feet or ten thumbs. Each story features a job for the Squad, helping a monster with a unique problem. Along the way they face a variety of small challenges that require learning and using numeracy skills en route to and saving the day. The Monster Math Squad are quite simply mad for math and all things “mathy”… counting, measuring, sizing, sorting, exploring shapes, patterns, time… you name it, it’s all math to these monsters. For the Monster Math Squad, math can solve any problem. The series’ mission is to promote the love of numeracy, the idea that math is everywhere, and math is fun!
#Learn #KidsVideo #Children Источник видео youtube.com/watch?v=xStrv6zf13E


Edward Henry Wehnert (1813–1868). Household stories (1862) (232 работ)
17 сентября 2013
Категория: арт и рисованая графика
Edward Henry Wehnert (1813–1868) was an English-born painter of landscape, genre and historical subjects, now best remembered for his illustrations in books and magazine.
The artist was born in London of German parents in 1813 and christened at St Anne's Church, Soho, on 14 February. He was educated at Göttingen University and received his art training chiefly in Paris, where and in Jersey he resided from 1832 to 1837. While in Jersey he taught John Everett Millais, shortly before the youngster left to pursue his art education in London, and also painted some topographical views. Wehnert then returned to England himself after joining the recently founded New Society of Painters in Watercolours, to the exhibitions of which he was subsequently a constant contributor. Among these was “The Gardener’s Daughter” (1860), which was obviously influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite themes favoured by his former pupil, Millais, with whom he had kept in contact. Among his other close friends were the sculptor Alfred Stevens and the wood engraver William James Linton.
His drawings were all of an historical character, among the best being "Luther reading his Sermon to some Friends", "The Death of Wickliffe", "George Fox preaching in a tavern" and "Caxton examining the first proof sheet from his press". Wehnert's large works, though excellently conceived and drawn, were unattractive in colour and did not readily find purchasers. He was more successful as a designer of book illustrations. Among the many for which he furnished the drawings were Grimm's Fairy Tales (1853); Keats's Eve of St. Agnes (1856); Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (1857); The Pilgrim's Progress (1858); Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales (1861); Robinson Crusoe (1862); and Edgar Allen Poe's Poetical Works (1865).
Wehnert contributed to the Westminster Hall cartoon exhibition in 1845 an allegorical drawing of "Justice". He died at Fortess Terrace, Kentish Town, on 15 September 1868. There is a collection of his work at the Victoria & Albert Museum, for which he also designed a mosaic.
17 сентября 2013 2009


WELCOME: Professor Lucy Green and her team at the Institute of Education, University of London are embarking upon exciting research concerning ear playing. Her enquiry is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. A better understanding of ear playing may benefit a wide variety of musical learners. Building upon her books, How Popular Musicians Learn, and Music, Informal Learning and the School, the current study looks at instrumental teaching.
The informal learning practices of popular musicians are simple, effective, flexible and enjoyable. Shared in different ways by folk, jazz and many other musicians, they can lead to high levels of skill-development, particularly in the realms of ear playing. Furthermore, many of the skills involved can be just as relevant to classical music as to any other musical style.
Young popular musicians usually:
The Ear Playing Project (EPP) approach, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, is based on a distillation and adaption of popular musicians' learning practices, designed for instrumental settings at any level. In particular, it focuses on one of the central ways in which popular musicians first acquire their skills – that is, listening to a recording, picking out a part, and attempting to play it by ear, usually with little or no formal guidance. The approach builds on the highly successful classroom project lead by Lucy Green within Musical Futures.
The approach involves the pupil listening to a recording and attempting to play it by ear. In order to make the task as accessible and inclusive as possible for the instrumental tuition setting, in the first few sessions the audio materials are specially prepared. In the final few sessions, this aid is removed and the pupil is given free choice about what music to play. A variety of teaching strategies are involved, which guide and encourage, whilst avoiding giving the pupil so much information that they would cease to use their ears.
For participating teachers, a handbook and audio materials (in WMA and MP3 formats) were available from the 'Download documents and audio tracks' page. Please note that this has now closed. For further information, please contact one of the project team (see our contact page).
The instrumental teaching and learning strategies were tested in a pilot research project, and then a main research phase in private practice, primary and secondary schools.
Over the past year, the EPP received support from organisations such as: the European Piano Teachers’ Association (EPTA); the European String Teachers' Association (ESTA); the National Association of Music Education (NAME); the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM); and the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM). All of these organisations kindly placed advertisements on their websites or in newsletters. The research officers (David and Maria) also staffed recruitment stands at ABRSM conferences in London, Manchester and Birmingham. There were 10 inductions, including sessions for the Oxford Piano Teachers’ Group, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Croydon Music and Arts. Instrumental teachers working with at least 325 students joined the project. Additionally, we were joined by like-minded music teachers working in Brazil and Cyprus. The main research phase concluded at the end of August 2012.
Participant teachers were invited to an end-of-project meeting. Click here for further information.
Please click here to download our final newsletter (September 2012).
Musical Futures, funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, is a highly successful national project, which is transforming classroom music education in the UK. It is also being rolled out in Australia, and piloted in the USA, Canada, Brazil and other parts of the world. The informal learning strand, which was led and developed by Professor Green, forms the precursor to the current instrumental project.
The Institute of Education brings together one of the largest groupings of music education researchers in the world, as well as offering courses in music education at PGCE, MA, EdD and MPhil/PhD levels. All staff are also members of the research centre 'iMerc': The International Music Education Research Centre.
Click here to download our current newsletter (September 2012).
Speedshifter is a free application, which can be downloaded from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) website. It speeds up or slows recordings without pitch changes and can also raise or lower the pitch. It may be helpful for participants who are not using instruments tuned precisely to concert pitch. Please click here to download the application.
We wish to convey our gratitude to Kim Bloomfield and June Bonfield-Brown and her school for seeking parents' permission for lesson photographs to be used on this site.


A series of illustrated books specifically designed for children in elementary education, narrating the stories of those great historical figures that have left their mark on humanity in fields such as science, art, exploration, music, fashion and other subjects.
Young readers will be able to read all about these famous people's main achievements, experiencing the main steps of their lives through Isabel Munoz's engaging illustrations, and finding out some curious facts about their work and success. In the twelve volumes of the series, children will be fascinated by the genial and revolutionary intuition of Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci's vast breadth of expertise, the incredible discoveries about space made by Galileo Galilei, the visionary theories about the Universe by Stephen Hawking, the Maria Montessori's educational method Mozart's infinite musical creativity, the masterpieces created by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Frida Kahlo. Young readers will also discover how Marie Curie, Charles Darwin and Coco Chanel have changed science, medicine and fashion forever.
There is a timeline at the end of each volume listing the main biographical events and some simple quizzes will help children to further understand and test their knowledge.
AGES: 6 and up
By Jane Kent


The Benefits of Music Education
Whether you’re passionate about learning Beethoven or Chuck Berry, music lessons are a powerful vehicle for self-expression, inspiration, and personal development. Even if you are six or eighty-six years old, music lessons sharpen the mind, calm the spirit, and enhance creativity.
But did you know music lessons could actually make you smarter?
According to a 2004 study at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, psychology professor E. Glenn Schellenberg “found a small increase in the IQs of six-year-olds who were given weekly voice and piano lessons. Schellenberg provided nine months of piano and voice lessons to a dozen six-year-olds, drama lessons (to see if exposure to arts in general versus just music had an effect) to the second group of six-year-olds, and no lessons to a third group. The children’s IQs were tested before entering the first grade, then again before entering the second grade.”
Surprisingly, the children given music lessons over the school year tested an average of three IQ points higher than the other groups.
Music also improves spatial-temporal skills. Researchers recently discovered a causal link between music and spatial intelligence. Spatial intelligence is paramount to solving complex, multi-step problems like those commonly found in architecture, engineering, math, and computer science.
But most important of all, learning an instrument instills a sense of pride and develops self-confidence. Let’s face it: learning to sing or play an instrument is really hard! It takes a lot of work, dedication, and practice.
However, it’s precisely the challenge of learning music that makes it worthwhile. Mastering an instrument or the voice takes thousands of hours of practice, hundreds of hours of lessons, and a lifetime of dedication.
But if you can dedicate yourself to learning and mastering a musical instrument, you can learn and master anything at all.


I taught a lesson on summarizing text in my class yesterday. We did it a pretty traditional way using a great program my fourth grade team purchased that focuses on differentiating the teaching of the reading comprehension strategies. (Comprehension Strategies Kit by Sundance)
The class and I looked at a short fictional text and started to activate our prior knowledge as we took a picture and text walk and made connections to what we observed. Then I read the text aloud once and the second time through, we paused to put a box around the characters, to circle important information about the setting and underline the major events in the story. We jotted down our findings in a graphic organizer and finally, wrote a summary of the text.
There – a great whole class intro lesson to summarizing. But before I sent them off to work in partners, I showed them a helpful handout provided by the program: a checklist of what you need to remember about summarizing.
Now, I’m all for short and sweet and helping students to remember things. As much as I do like these handouts, it can be a bit overwhelming, so the class and I went through each line and I asked them to choose only one or two words from each line to remember.
Instead of “decide on what’s important and what’s not important in the story,” some students circled “decide” or “important.” For “choose the most important events from the story,” most of us chose to circle, “most important.” And so on…
When we were done, I read the words I had circled on my paper and it sounded like poetry!
Some excited students started clapping. (Gotta love those kids!)
That’s when it hit me. I thought I would really do something drastic and show the kids blackout poetry! I asked a student to get me a think, black sharpie and proceeded to black out all the words I did not circle. Some of the kids gasped as I crossed out many of the written words, but when I was done, they were all pretty impressed.
Before I was even done reading my black out poem, students were already getting up to get a black marker of their own or scribbling over words with their pencils. It was kind of exciting. They were happily creating their own black out poem about summarizing.
Then it started to strike them: it was a summary about summarizing.
It was overtime for us and we needed to move onto our writing project, but I can guarantee that many students will be happy to recite their summary black out poem to start our reading lesson tomorrow.


What is Comping And What Are Guide Tones?
“Comping” is a term used by jazz musicians.
It is short for “accompanying”.
The term “guide tones” refers to the 3rds and 7ths of chords.
These are the most important notes in a chord.
The 3rd is the note that gives a chord it’s major or minor chord quality.
The 7th further defines the chord sound as it adds the “spice” to the chord.
If you were to leave the root and 5th out of a chord, and only keep the 3rd and 7th, it would still sound like that chord.
The root and the 5th in other words: don’t contribute as much to the overall sound of the chord.
The reason for this is tied in to the study of intervals.
The chord’s root, has the same sonic character akin to the unison or octave (as described in the study of intervals).
Unisons and octaves are called perfect intervals in the study of harmony.
The 5th, is a perfect interval as well.
If one were to describe the sound and character of perfect intervals (unison, 4th, 5th, octave), one would use words like: hollow, transparent, colorless or even descriptions like “lacking personality”.
3rds and 7ths however, have a lot of personality.
3rds sound sweet, pleasant, like honey, also called “consonant”
7ths sound like vinegar, pepper, spicy, also called “dissonant”.
If you are interested to learn more about the theory behind this, I recommend this following blog.
In case you want to learn more about intervals on guitar, this following blog gives you access to all the urls explaining intervals in great detail:
Comping with 3rds and 7ths.
So to get back on topic: when you comp with guide tones, you are basically playing rhythm guitar only using the 3rds and 7ths of chords.
A couple of traits of this rhythm playing style:
- You get an uncluttered, more open sound.
- You leave more space for the improviser, who has more improvisational freedom soloing over chords that are stripped down to their most basic form.
- You’re not stepping on the bass player’s toes with your roots.
- The parts you play sit better in the overall band mix.
- This comping style leans itself really well to larger ensemble with lots of musicians.
- It’s easy to voice lead the chords. (“Voice leading” refers to a way of connecting the chords with least amount of motion between chord tones. This technique makes it sound like you’re composing on the spot, creating a tapestry of connected chords. )
Comping With Guide Tones in Blues
There is fun way, you can comp with guide tones in blues.
This is a common rhythm technique in larger blues band settings.
Check out following examples of a major blues with guide tones in the key of G.
Now here’s something fun…
When you move the above fingerings up 6 frets, you get exactly the same notes like in the above example, just flipped around.
So there are 2 locations where you could play this.
The above examples, cover the guide tones in dominant 7 chords.
Later we will cover how to comp with guide tones in maj7, m7 and m7b5 chords.
Contact me anytime if you have any questions about the materials covered in past months.
Keep me informed on your progress. You can hit me up in the comments section below.
If you like this blog: give it a rating and feel free to also give me any feedback.
I believe everything can always be improved. I’d gladly implement your suggestions and ideas in this blog or the next.
Be on the look out for more blogs about everything guitar, music, songwriting and music education.


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This the discussion
In preparation for the Unit 5 Assignment, we will discuss possible topics for your newsletter. Possible topics for your newsletter could include : strategies to promote literacy at home, health and nutrition tips, the importance of parental involvement in education, the importance of play in early childhood or strategies for managing challenging behavior.
- Share the topic that you are considering for your newsletter.
- Why are these topics important or relevant to your community?
- Share the strategies that you might include to support parents or student learning in the areas selected.
- Describe any challenges or questions you have related to the Assignment.
- Discuss any resources you consider valuable in writing your newsletter.
- Consider all of the course/program outcomes. How does the topic for your newsletter meet one or more course/program outcomes (please be sure to state the course/program outcome and why the learning meets that outcome).
- Need Reference for it
Family and Community Newsletter
This Assignment assesses the following course outcome:
CE499-2: Child, Family, and Community Relationships: Develop, plan, and implement strategies for building family and community relationships. (BSEC-2)
This week, you will develop a newsletter to meet the objective of building family and community relationships. Reflect on what you have learned in your degree plan in this area and apply this knowledge to your newsletter.
This newsletter should be professionally presented and contain helpful tips for the parents with whom you work or with whom you expect to work. You will have the opportunity to choose your area of focus. Some topics could include: supporting children at home, literacy development, promoting positive behavior.
Your newsletter should include the following:
- A welcome that introduces the topic you will address and coveys a warm and welcoming message to parents and families.
- Strategies to support parents or student learning at home.
- At least two community resources in your newsletter that could benefit parents.
Be sure to use the Unit 5 Assignment Template in Doc Sharing and proofread your work: you should have no spelling or grammar errors. You are not required to use APA format for this Assignment. However, your newsletter should be professionally and neatly presented. Include pictures or other graphics to make the newsletter appealing.
You will also include this Assignment in your e-Portfolio under this course/program outcome: CE499-2: Child, Family, and Community Relationships: Develop, plan, and implement strategies for building family and community relationships. (BSEC-2)


Who We Are
At Cardinal Reading Strategies, our primary objective, with the Orton-Gillingham tradition as our foundation, is to provide tools, goals, and structure that meet the needs of students requiring either primary instruction or remediation in the reading (decoding) and spelling (encoding) of the English language.
Orton-Gillingham (evidence-based reading instruction) is an intensive, sequential, and cumulative approach that teaches the basics of word formation before whole meanings. We teach to students’ strengths while improving their weaknesses through explicit and systematic phonics instruction. As a result, a student’s ability to master reading, writing, and spelling of the English language is fostered, forensically.
With our evidence-based approach, supported by our 24/7, Remediation Center, students can be quickly shown the phonetic nature of the English language and the proper structure of the written language.
Our reading services may include any or all of the following:
Word Attack Skills
Language Training Supplies
It typically takes us six months to raise a student’s reading ability by two grade levels.


Importance Of The German Education System
Togo is a French colony and they follow the same education system as France.
Kindergarten or pre-school registers pupils from age 2 to age 6, and prepare them for entry into primary school. Every pupil must pass through this stage regardless of your age.
Primary or elementary school take students aged 6 to 11. It’s a six years long of studies. This is where pupil learn to write, read and learn a little about general education. To advance to College or middle school which is four years long an entry exam called CEPD (Certificat D’édude du Premier Degré) is conducted at the end of your …show more content…
Failure in a French school system means not suitable for higher education therefore you will have to spend another year in the class you fail.
Unlike the German school system, Togo has a very rigorous education system. Students go to school in the morning from 0630 to 1200 and in the afternoon from 1500 to 1700. Parent are rarely involved in their children education because most of the time the parents are not educated themselves since it’s not mandatory to attend school in Togo. Consequently, they work hard to put their kids into school and encourage them to excel. There are a lot of differences between the German and Togo or France school system.
On one hand German school system provides education and training related to the career field of its learners: graduate students are well trained, educated and either ready to continue higher education or enter the workforce. Another advantage is the reduction of financial burden on parent: making elementary education mandatory and a very low- cost or free higher studies helps parent to be debt …show more content…
Weak educational foundation: when the work becomes obsolete because of the evolution of technology, individual who went to apprenticeship earlier in their prime time will have difficulties to go back to school especially if they want to go to university and meet the demand of today’s market. Also the German students have limited reality check: going to school only in the morning can have adverse effect on individual, adjusting to the real world working hours could be a problem. School are designed to prepare a person for future endeavor hence simulating real life in the course of studies is crucial.
In the “A German Compares School Systems.” I will agree with the author that it’s remarkable to see American students in public, coffee shop, library etc.…Education in the USA cost money and not every student that has the means to have internet at home hence the use of free hotspot Wi-Fi in various location across the country. I am also in favor of the author underlining that adult learning is without notice in the American universities, the demand of well educated and suitable applicants for a job position has drawn the lines and everybody; young or old has understood the that education is


About Educational Therapy
What Does an Educational Therapist Do?
Simply stated, an educational therapist gathers information about the student, and then develops and implements a remediation plan to address all academic challenges.
Because social, emotional and biological factors can impact learning, these issues may also be addressed.
Non-academic goals such as building self-confidence, self-monitoring, working independently and self-advocacy skills are often incorporated.
The educational therapist acts as a case manager and will collaborate with the student's teachers, therapists, and any other allied professionals involved in the student's life.
"Vicki has taught me how to organize my time, advocate for myself, and physically and mentally see my assignments. She has a gift of getting to know each of her students and pinpointing their difficulties, working hard to understand where their disabilities hinder their learning. I can safely say that Vicki has given me the self-confidence and skills to succeed in college and into my adult life!"
Stephanie, college senior
I had the pleasure of working with Vicki as we collaborated for a mutual client. Our therapies (educational and speech) blended well together and Vicki and I were able to seamlessly work as a team to make sure our clients needs were being met. When we attended school meetings with our client’s parents, teacher, and school support staff, Vicki was always prepared, ready to share the client’s progress and techniques she had used in her sessions as well as detail continued areas of need with helpful strategies. Vicki was an unwavering advocate for the child and always made sure his teachers knew how hard he was working and what skills he was mastering. You could see her dedication and willingness to go that extra measure for her client. She was always totally invested in not only his academic but emotional well being as well. It was an honor to work with Vicki and see first hand the progress he made because of her efforts.
-Stephanie LaPedis, M.S. CCC-SLP
What Skills Are Taught by an Educational Therapist?
Struggling readers often have phonics "gaps" that impact the ability to develop grade level reading skills.
In addtion to systematic and explicit phonics instruction, strategies are taught to decode multi-syllabic words, identify sight words, adjust reading speed, and read with expression.
Some students struggle to understand the content of what they are reading.
Building vocabulary is often key to improving comprehension.
When attention impacts comprehension,strategies are taught to help the student engage with the material.
Although some students have a diganosed math disabliity, many others struggle to retain math facts or to keep up with a constantly progressing curriculum.
Various strategies incorporating the different modalities of auditory, visual and kinesteitc are used to teach or reinforce concepts taught in the classooom.
These skills include the physical act of writing and may involve instruction in letter formation.
Most often, students require strategies to "organize their thoughts" and to breakdown the writing process.
Skills taught include prewriting planning, sentence and paragraph structure, grammar and editing.
"Vicki helps me with my homework, and she teaches me spelling tricks and silly math stories to help me remember my multiplication facts."
- Pablo, 5th grade
The same phonics "gaps" and attention deficits that may impact reading can also impact the developent of spelling skills.
Strategies are taught to identify recognizable phonics patterns, to break down multi-syllabic words into parts, and to memorize irregulary spelled words.
Organization and Study Skills
Organization strategies generally involve setting up systems for managing papers and materials in binders, and desks, both in and outside of school.
Effective study strategies for tests are based on the student's learning style and subject matter.
Some students need strategies to help manage their time, keep track of tasks, self-motivate and timely complete assignments.
Vicki has taught me how to organize my time, advocate for myself, and physically and mentally see my assignments. She has a gift of getting to know each of her students and pinpointing their difficulties, working hard to understand where their disabilities hinder their learning. I can safely say that Vicki has given me the self-confidence and skills to succeed in college and into my adult life!"
-Stephanie, college senior


Parents are the principal and first educators of their children. In this sense the fundamental task of marriage and family is to be at the service of life (CCC, 1653).
The home is the first school of Christian life and “a school for human enrichment.” Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous — even repeated — forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life (CCC, 1657).
The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called “the domestic church,” a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity (CCC, 1666).
Family Resources for Faith Formation at Home
This wonderful resources provides parents with lessons geared toward lower, middle, and upper elementary education levels. There are weekly lessons for each Sunday in May 2020. To download the lessons, CLICK HERE.
Learn all about Our Lady of Fatima and her Feast Day: May 13! CLICK HERE for this Saint’s Lesson.