In 1910 the exhibition “Masterpieces of Mohammedan Art” in Munich presented carpets displayed on walls like paintings, a presentation that made many Europeans visit the Maghreb to study its local crafts traditions.
In 1927 – 13 years after his voyage to Tunis – Bauhaus teacher Paul Klee created a drawing based on monochrome “Kilims” made by Tunisian Berbers. While studying its structure and patterns Klee developed a relation between craft object, decorative arts and a specific language of abstraction.
As one of four focal objects of bauhaus imaginista Klee’s drawing Teppich (carpet), one of many attempts by Bauhaus artists to learn from pre-modern design practices triggers a debate around transcultural readings of vernacular objects. Klee’s drawing invites the question from a contemporary perspective, how and through which framings craft objects are transformed into an art work or a design innovation. What is gained and what is concealed in such readings?
According to French-Algerian artist Kader Attia, non-Western museum objects like Berber rugs have been detached from their original meaning by removing them from their initial context. Through a process of abstraction, they have been cleansed from the physical and social body to which they must be connected if they are to function and be complete. To fully understand an object’s identity, Attia argues, we have to reconnect it to the body.
In the context of bauhaus imaginista Kader Attia will produce a new film, based on studis on Berber jewelry that in addition to traditional metals and gems also used coins imported by colonial powers. Through the appropriation of European money, its currency became detached from its original value. The photographs of Berber jewelry from Attia’s new film project unfold a complicit relation between tradition and modernity and point out how intercultural encounters always unleash a never-ending process of exchange and re-appropriation.
It is this open-ended process of transcultural readings that was also foundational for the post-independence art movement in Morocco of the 1960s. It is less know that artists and designers in Casablanca revisited the Bauhaus curriculum by turning to a study of local crafts. Like it is demonstrated in the research undertaken by Maud Houssais, a research wich is also presented in Le Cube, for them, Berber crafts offered an alternative to the existing Beaux-Arts art education, implemented under the French colonial rule. Asserting the need to decolonialize culture and the art school curriculum, artists and intellectuals such as Farid Belkahia, Mohamed Chabâa, Bernt Flint, Toni Maraini and Mohamed Melehi re-visited popular art forms to create a new post-colonial language that aimed to synthesize the arts. This productive friction between different knowledge structures beyond the usual hierarchy of the manual vs the cognitive, the popular vs elite culture is still a challenge for today’s art institutions.
How can the reading of cultures be decolonialized? With the start of bauhaus imaginista’s year program in Morocco in Rabat 23rd/24th of March 2018, this question is reflected through the study of vernacular objects as well as through parallel projects in the 20th century that wanted to go beyond the western paradigms of knowledge production and transfer.
Website of bauhaus imaginista
• “Le Maghreb se réapproprie le Bauhaus” by Zouina Ait Slimani in Manazir
• “Kader Attia célébre le Bauhaus à Rabat” in Diptyk n.42
• “Kader Attia, le Maroc et le Bauhaus” by Maud Houssais in Diptyk n.43
• “Rabat, lancement de l’exposition Bauhaus Imaginista”, interview with Maud Houssais sur Medi1TV
A visit of the exhibition bauhaus imaginita with Marion von Osten and Maud Houssais


Education was never so innovative: Schools in fishing boats, mobile schools in brick kilns; programmes like Meena campaign, Ujasbhani and Diwali camp for girl’s education, special teachers for children with disabilities. These and many more innovations made by four-year-old Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to achieve universalisation of elementary education have been documented by IIM-Ahmedabad.
The 91-page document highlights best practices and innovations done by Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, UP, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. The study has found that the SSA has met with considerable success quantitatively if not qualitatively. While quality remains an area of concern, the SSA has been able to bridge the enrolment, retention and achievement gaps between the sexes and among social groups. According to the IIM-A study titled `Shiksha Sangam: Innovations under the SSA,’ the out-of-school population had come down from 28.5 per cent of the six-to-14 year age group in 2001 to 6.94 per cent by the end of 2005. Dropout rates at the primary level stands at about 12 per cent and 190 of the 400 districts were showing a declining trend in 2005-2006.
The SSA has been able to bring Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs)


Early experiences shape how the brain develops and a strong foundation in the early years increases the probability of getting children excited about careers in STEM fields. Research shows children in direct instruction environments show more dependency on adults, less pride in their accomplishments, inhibit creativity, and foster superficial learning rather than promote real understanding and problem-solving skills. Our preschool activities teach students to solve problems, create solutions, foster innovation, collaborate together, and construct their own learning process. Our approach maximizes STEM preschool benefits by promoting invaluable skills rooted in early learning experiences that will create a love for lifelong learning. Our teachers work to develop a warm and supportive relationship with students that foster a love of learning while also encouraging discovery and independence.
STEM Preschool Benefits
Our focus in preschool is on fostering self-identity, forming respectful relationships, collaborative learning experiences, play, discovery, investigation, social learning, building relationships, and fostering creativity and art making within the context of STEM projects and experiences that promote hands on explorations. Our belief is that the benefits most achieved by children comes through play and STEM thinking instilled in each preschooler as an integral part of the learning process. Part of STEM preschool benefits is that STEM learning gives a foundation for children’s learning about the world around them. Children need time and encouragement to explore, investigate and learn in natural ways.
Continuing to build on the STEM foundation encourages connections with the STEM fields and helping the children believe they are able to pursue their own ideas in learning. Preschoolers are also encouraged to explore and pursue their own questions through the use of projects and using the arts as an expression of their learning process. Our teachers support developing these concepts through guided questions, facilitating structured thinking and providing information and opportunities to acquire new knowledge. We provide a hands-on, play based environment by elaborating and enhancing learning experiences and inviting children to engage in their learning process by revisiting experiences though creative projects. Our individualized programs also offer preschoolers that opportunity to have a strong foundation in literacy and writing, languages and many other learning domains.
Another STEM preschool benefit is the preschool children at A Learning Bee Academy are taught to be respectful to each other by being treated respectfully by our wonderful teachers. Our teachers model responsive care, which means they adjust their teaching to meet each child’s developmental needs, respond to the child’s inner desire to understand and learn about the world around them, and respond to every child’s daily needs with love, care and respect.
A preschooler’s home is their primary learning environment, and we realize there are a lot of things that a child’s family can offer to their education. We strongly encourage family participation in activities, classroom volunteering, special events and field trips.
Preschool is an essential step on a child’s journey toward elementary school and future academic success. By focusing on age-appropriate gross and fine motor skill development, active, hands-on early childhood STEM learning experiences guide children’s development is key school readiness skills. A Learning Bee Academy is the best place for your preschooler to prepare to enter school.


10. The Hague Recommendations regarding the Education Rights of National Minorities and Explanatory Note (1996)
(Recommended by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1 October 1996)
In its Helsinki Decisions of July 1992, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) established the position of High Commissioner on National Minorities to be "an instrument of conflict prevention at the earliest possible stage". This mandate was created largely in reaction to the situation in the former Yugoslavia which some feared would be repeated elsewhere in Europe, especially among the countries in transition to democracy, and could undermine the promise of peace and prosperity as envisaged in the Charter of Paris for a New Europe adopted by the Heads of State and Government in November 1990.
EXPLANATORY NOTE TO THE HAGUE RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE EDUCATION RIGHTS OF NATIONAL MINORITIES
Article 26 of the Declaration refers to elementary education as compulsory. It engages States to make technical and professional education generally available and higher education accessible on the basis of merit. It also makes clear that the objective of education should be the full development of the human personality and the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. [...]
[...] Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stresses that the objective of education is the promotion of understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations, racial and religious groups. In this spirit, and with integration in mind, the intellectual and cultural development of majorities and minorities should not take place in isolation.
Since the end of the Second World War an ever-growing number of international instruments have placed increasing emphasis on the objectives of education. According to these instruments education is required not only to provide strictly academic or technical training but it is also required to inculcate such values as tolerance, pluralism, anti-racism and international and inter-communal harmony. [...].
The subject of minority education rights is a sensitive issue in a number of participating States of the OSCE. At the same time the educational process has the potential to effectively facilitate and strengthen mutual respect and understanding between the various communities within participating States.


Art in Morocco
The most important Roman sites in Morocco are Volubilis, near Fès, with forums, basilica and Caracalla’s triumphal arch (217 AD) and Lixus. Cave paintings can be found in the south, for example in Foum al-Hassan and Oukaimeden. For the most part, traditional arts and crafts in Morocco are characterized by Islamic culture.
Modern Moroccan art is inspired by both Arabic, Islamic-Arabic and Western art. A number of artists painted in a naivistic style, including Muhammad ibn Ali Rabati (1861-1939), who painted small naivist paintings with motifs from Moroccan everyday life.
Morocco’s first art school, Escuela Preparatoria de Bellas Artes, was established in 1945 in Tetouán, and in 1950 the French founded the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Casablanca. After independence, artists such as Ahmed Cherkaoui painted abstract pictures with elements from Berber art.
Farid Belkahia, Muhammad Melehi and Mohamed Chebaa ( Casablanca Group ) introduced Arabic calligraphy and local crafts in the art education. Belkahia used traditional Moroccan materials as copper and leather in his works, which he modeled in abstract forms. In 1970, closer contact was established with other Arab countries, including exhibitions of Arabic art. Among Moroccan sculptors are Mubarak Brahim (1920–61), Abdellaq Sijelmassi (b. 1938), Boujemaa Lakhdar (b. 1940), Hassan Slaoui (b. 1946), and Omar Youssufi (b. 1950).
Morocco has rich arts and crafts traditions. From the late 700s to the mid-1200s, an Islamic handicraft was developed in the country with influence from Andalusia in Spain. In the cities metal art, woodwork as well as textiles and carpet art were made; often with geometric star patterns. Since the 18th century, there has been considerable ceramic production, first and foremost in Fès, with glazed objects in strong colors. Illuminated manuscripts with maghribic writing are preserved from around the 1000s. The leatherwork often has pressed and colored ornamental decorations. The city’s craftsmanship has a refined feel, while the rural products are more rustic with unglazed, decorated ceramics as well as strong geometric patterned rugs and textiles.
Three of Morocco’s most important museums with art objects are the Ouaya Museum in Rabat, the Dar Batha Museum in Fès and the Dar Jamai Museum in Meknès. The most important archaeological museum, which contains most of the finds from Volubilis, is located in Rabat. Modern Moroccan art is exhibited in the Musée d’Art Contemporain in Tangier (opened 1990) and in a Center for Contemporary Art in Casablanca (opened 1996).
Music in Morocco
The music culture has historical ties to the Sudan, West Africa and Egypt. Outdoor ceremony music ghaita (oboinstrument) and bendir or tablets (drum) represents a panislamsk tradition, while singing to ganga (page drum) and qarqabat (jernidiofoner) shows kinship with the West African forms.
The Islamic art music type maghrib, also called the Andalusian tradition, is dominated by nauba, a chamber musical suite form. It is performed by ensembles with ‘ud (lute), rhubarb and kamanja (violin types), tar (frame drum) and darbouka (drum), sometimes supplemented by piano and cello. The style is heterophone, richly ornamented and in accordance with Islamic theory of melodic and rhythmic modes.
The cultural boom after independence (1956) is reflected in the development of popular music and annual festivals for folklore (Marrakech), jazz (Tangier), Andalusian music (Saîdia) and African art (Agadir).


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Deaf/hard-of-hearing (Deaf and hard-of-hearing) postsecondary students may have some misconceptions surrounding scientific concepts that might be partially ascribed to a lack of access to culturally-responsive forms of pedagogy. The Deaf and hard-of-hearing community is diverse in communication modes, including those who use American Sign Language as their primary language, and therefore, some students from this population may display characteristics similar to English Language Learners. Through classroom discourse analyses and interviews, we found a general lack of persuasion characteristics used by most students in an environmental science unit, and that the lack of higher-level scientific argumentation skills seemed to be related to students not having prior exposure to persuasive strategies. With the goal of improving Deaf and hard-of-hearing students’ equitable access to quality science education, strategies should be considered in teaching approaches, and results suggest the need to include scientific argumentation tasks within sociocultural learning contexts. Ultimately, the goal is to work toward educating and engaging Deaf and hard-of-hearing students in science inquiry and improving the environmental scientific literacy of this underrepresented group.
Ross, Annemarie; Yerrick, Randy; and Pagano, Todd
"Use of Scientific Argumentation by Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students in Environmental Science Topics,"
Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities: Vol. 23
1, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/jsesd/vol23/iss1/5
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The Pre-primary wing of the school comprises classes of Pre-Nursery, Nursery, and Kindergarten and caters to the needs and demands of early childhood learning. Bearing in mind that at this age the foundation of a child's personality is laid and two-thirds of their intellect is formed, we have created an environment and a system of teaching which is entirely child-friendly. The classes have an exclusive domain and it is here that they learn social skills, free-play, develop the verbal ability and imbibe the skills and joy of creating things with their own hands through art and crafts which is an integral part of the curriculum. The curriculum is open-ended and focused on experiential learning. Formal learning of the three ‘R’s is introduced in Nursery. It finds a more prominent place in the Kindergarten curriculum which includes recognition, reading and writing of Hindi and English alphabets, small words and basic mathematical concepts. Environmental studies are taught with project-based activities and Life Skills are taught to make students more adaptable to different situations.
The focus in Kindergarten is on cognitive development and enhancement of language and interpersonal skills. Children are sensitized to social, cultural concerns and encouraged to think, reflect on issues and arrive at their own solutions. The main objective of the curriculum is to enable children to communicate effectively, develop integrated skills and creativity; for them to grow as confident and independent individuals.
The syllabus becomes more broad-based at this level and gradually the young learners are exposed to a wide range of subjects and study material which is suitably graded in accordance with the CCE. Apart from Math, English, Hindi, E.V.S. and Computer Education subjects like General Knowledge are also taught. As early as class I, students learn to work on computers in the Multimedia Lab which has been specially equipped to meet the needs of the young learners. From class III onwards, the school offers the students the choice to learn any one of the three languages- Sanskrit, German and French as Third Language. A plethora of choices given to the students for their Work Experience classes ranging from pottery to public speaking, cookery to clay modeling. Last but not the least in order to inculcate moral values and general awareness among students, interactive sessions are held in the Life Skills classes.
The teaching of all the subjects is done by using Smartboards. This audio-visual method makes learning a joyful experience for students.
From Class VI to class VIII the curriculum of all academic subjects as well as a variety of co-curricular activities encourages creativity, aesthetics, and adventure. All students study English, Hindi, Mathematics, Science (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology), Social Studies (History, Civics, and Geography) and third language (German, French or Sanskrit). Co-curricular activities include Socially Useful & Productive Work (Art, Music, Dance, Science Club, Geography Club, Literary Club) etc, Physical & Health Education and Computer Education.
Students of Class XI and XII may take Science, Commerce or Humanities course, each of which cover 5 subjects.
The Science Course: English, Physics and Chemistry are the compulsory subjects for the students
The Medical Stream: This has Biology as the fourth subject while the fifth subject can be Maths or Psychology.
The Non-MedicalStream : This has fourth subject as Mathematics and the fifth subject can be Computer Science or Economics.
The Commerce Course: English, Accountancy, Business Studies and Economics are compulsory subjects. For the fifth subject, students have a choice of Mathematics / Psychology.
The Humanities Course: English is a compulsory subject. Other choices are :
- History / Fine Arts / Geography / Maths
- Political Science / Fashion Design
(Physical Education can be opted as the sixth subject in all the streams in class XII only.) The class XII course culminates in the All India Senior Secondary Examinations, which is also conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.


Literacy & Education
Literacy continues to be a part of the work of SIL internationally and in the Philippines. SIL is involved in literacy activities which touch the lives of adults, young people and children.
Although the Philippines has a basic literacy rate of more than 88.5%, pockets of illiteracy remain. According to the Department of Education, there are more than 1 million pre-literates in the country and more than 6 million people are deemed to be functionally illiterate. Many of these are found among the indigenous cultural communities where SIL works in association with the Philippines Department of Education.
Some of these communities have no written tradition for their languages. In those instances, linguistic research can be the starting point for development of an appropriate orthography for the language. The goal is to produce an alphabet that is easy to read and write, so that students can transfer their literacy skills in the vernacular into other Philippine languages that they learn. SIL endeavors to serve these communities through a learner-centered, “bottom-up” approach which keeps the power of decision – ownership of the process and the product – in the hands of the community. We desire that, from the beginning, learner success and enjoyment will build a foundation for continuing education, benefitting the individual, the community and the nation.
MALEI (Matigsalug Literacy Education Incorporated) oversees the on-going development of literacy and education among the Matigsalug Manobo of Davao del Norte and Bukidnon. SIL members helped facilitate the formation of this people's organization. MALEI aims to include community education as part of their on-going programs for out-of-school youth and adults. Typically, this would include sessions on topics such as budgeting, leadership training and agricultural matters.
Under the umbrella of OMALRACDI (Obo Manobo Active Language Resource and Community Development Inc.), various activities take place in partnership with SIL. These include the promotion of literacy through equipping Manobos to become literacy teachers and supervisors. To date, more than eight Literacy Teacher Institutes have been held in Manobo communities, taught by Manobos. OMALRACDI also facilitates health care education programs through primary health care classes taught by a Manobo midwife.
The Tagakaulo Kalagan in Sarangani Province and Davao del Sur work in association with the Department of Education Bureaus of Elementary Education and Alternative Learning Systems. Beginning in the barangay of Lutay, an area which formerly had neither formal schools for children nor non-formal classes for adults, a program for children has begun where basic reading and writing lesson materials are constructed first in the mother tongue of the students, and then bridging into Filipino and English. SIL members are very active in this area and the program is spreading to a number of other Tagakaulo speaking areas.


- To contribute to a balanced an appropriate general education, leading to the personal and social development of each student together with a fostering of the concept of accountability
- To create awareness of the business environment and to to provide each student with the knowledge, understanding and skills leading to a personal competence and responsible participation in this changing and challenging environment.
- To encourage the development of self-reliance, mental organisation and agility, clear and logical thinking, planning habits, methods of investigation and processes whereby accuracy can be ensured
- To enhance numeracy skills and promote awareness of the use of figures computations and statistics in the world of business and enterprise
- To expose students to aspects of business and enterprise with a view to career and working life, additional studies in accounting or as a basis for further education.
The course is divided into eleven main sections:
- The Conceptual framework of Accounting
- The Regulatory Framework of Accounting (Higher Level only)
- Accounting Records
- Double-entry bookkeeping
- Bank reconciliation statement
- Control Accounts
- Suspense Accounts
- Sole Traders
- Company Accounting
- Share Capital, Reserves and Loan Capital
- Financial Statements of Limited Companies
- Appreciation of Annual Reports of Public Limited Companies (Higher Level only)
- Specialised Accounts
- Manufacturing Accounts
- Club Accounts and the Accounts of Servicefirms
- Departmental Accounts
- Farm Accounts
- Incomplete Records
- Cash Flow Statements
- Analysis and Interpretation of Financial Statements
- Management Accounting
- Information Technology and Computer Applications in Accounting
The syllabus is assessed by means of an examination paper at two levels, Ordinary level and Higher level in ascending order of difficulty.
A review of the Leaving Certificate Accounting syllabus has taken place and a revised syllabus has been completed. This revised syllabus will be approved by the NCCA in spring 2006 and following approval, will issue to the Department of Education and Science for implementation in schools in due course.
This is a practical and vocationally-oriented course that introduces students to the world of Business in a straightforward and logical way. It aims to create an awareness of the importance of Business activity and to develop a positive and ethical attitude towards it.. The importance of people in Business is highlighted. The course sets out to illustrate the process of setting up a business and developing a new product or service. It emphasises the importance of good management and deals with skills and activities necessary for good management practice. It also deals with the impact of technology, foreign trade, global firms and competition and with business structures and the national economy
- People in Business
- Conflicting interests.
- Household and Business Finance, Insurance, Taxation.
- Human Resource Management
- The Changing Role of Management
- Monitoring a Business including ratio analysis.
- Identifying Opportunities
- Starting up
- Business Sectors
- Structure of Business
- Community Development
- Business, Government and Workers
- Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Business
- The International Trading Environment
- The European Union
- International Business
Assessment is by examination paper at two levels, Ordinary level and Higher level.
The Leaving Certificate Business Studies syllabus was introduced in 1997 and first examined in 1999.


Sight Words for Preschool Kids
Preschool Sight Words
Literacy is one of the most important foundational skills that is developed during the preschool ages. After all, learning to read becomes one of the most important activities in our adult lives, and most of us do it without even thinking about it. So, exactly how does a preschool-aged child begin to read?
Along with letter recognition and phonics, preschool-aged children who are beginning to learn to read should begin to learn sight words. Sight words are words that appear frequently in books and other texts but that may be a little bit complicated to sound out using phonetic skills. Sight words can be memorized so that the child easily recognizes the word as they come across it within a text.
Common Preschool Sight Words
As your child moves through various grades, he or she will be expected to learn a certain number of sight words each year. By the time your child is in third grade, he or she will know an average of 300 words based solely on the number of sight words he/she has learned. The common preschool appropriate sight words are:
This sample list is a good place to start, but you may also add in other words that your child may frequently see or hear. His/her name, for example, the dog’s name, any names of siblings. You might choose to include the name of your city or the place you vacation. In general, any word that your child is frequently exposed to can and should be included in his/her sight words.
Tackling Sight Words
Having the list of sight words to cover is really only part of the battle. You may be wondering how on earth you should tackle the massive list of sight words you have compiled. Begin by choosing just two or three sight words to work on at first. As time progresses, simply add more words to your list. You should never allow sight words to fall of your list, rather continue adding new words to list over time.
Any time that you are reading a book with your child, stop to point out his/her sight words as you encounter them. You might even ask you child to read the sight word aloud to strengthen his/her understanding of the word.
Using flash cards is a great way to practice sight words. Kids enjoy flash cards and they are a great resource for preparing kids for kindergarten. You may also consider sensory bin play or even creating a game out of sight word recognition.
Sight words are a crucial piece of the puzzle when it comes to teaching a child to read. Take it slow. At preschool age, many kids are still in a pre-reading phase. Do not feel the need to rush a child who is not getting it.


Teachers in elementary settings can start a career with a bachelor’s, but it is in their best interest to advance their careers by earning specific elementary education master’s degrees as they teach. There are a long is of master’s degree programs majoring in education, but not each of these are tailored to cover topics that pertain to elementary-level teaching or specializations. Here are some of the more specific degree options that will aid in your advancement:
A Master of Arts in Teaching
While teaching strategies are covered in a Bachelor of Arts program, the strategies that can implement by students as they pursuing their teaching certification aren’t covered in depth. To learn more in-depth knowledge on various teaching strategies that can be used for students with different disabilities and learning styles, teachers in elementary settings can pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching.
A Master of Arts in Teaching, also known as a MAT, gives teachers hands-on teaching experience while in school. Graduate students can choose the subject area in which they would like to cover advanced coursework on and the curricula will include information on methodology and stylistic approach, as well are the implementation of pedagogical theory. Most undergraduate students will go directly from a BA program to the MAT program and work as a student teacher.
How Does a Master’s of Education Vary from a MAT?
An M.Ed. degree program varies from the MAT option because of the curriculum covered and the instructional design. Instead of learning by doing, like you would in a MAT program, you will cover research-based curriculum and theory as opposed to practicing strategies. Expanding knowledge in specialization areas and also learning more about administration skill set is much of the focus in M.Ed. programs.
Master of Education in Special Education
If your goal is to one day because a specialized teacher in the Special Education field, you should consider earning a Master of Education specializing the curriculum in a Special Education subset. In most states, Special Education teachers are required to pursue a specialist instruction credential or license, according to Teach California.
Many states even require specialists in this role acquire a master’s degree before they can apply for their license. An M.Ed. in Special Education will cover the specific subsets of special education that the practitioner is planning to teach in, whether it be autism or learning disabilities.
Master of Education in Curriculum Development
Yet another option for teachers to advance their careers in the elementary setting is to pursuing their M.Ed. in Curriculum Development. Curriculum developers can work in the classroom or at an administrative level in the district. If you’d like to help shape curricula and evaluate the success of current designs, earning an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction is what you need to do.
Some of the covered content will include instructional theory, culture in the class setting, inclusive instruction, planning for school improvement, STEAM education and more. This degree can land you in a teaching leadership role or help you get qualified to move up into administration roles later in your career.
Related Resource: Top 20 Best Master’s in English Language Learning Online 2018
According to the National Education Association, the average starting salary of a teacher with a master’s degree is $64,883. This is almost $30,000 higher than the average starting salary with a bachelor’s. Teachers who currently are in the classroom can benefit from an M.Ed. If you want to increase your earning potential, browse the specific elementary education master’s degrees and enroll in the best program for you.


Raising a child with special needs may be both challenging and rewarding. Remember that you are not alone. Your child’s school, the state health department, and other parents are resources for you to learn more about your child’s special needs. You and your child have legal rights to ensure that appropriate education and services are received.
Who is a Child with Special Needs?
A child with special needs experiences some delays in development. Children with special needs are also referred to as children with disabilities. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), children with special needs have physical or mental disabilities that may limit them from "daily/social life activities," such as learning, hearing, seeing, communicating or mobility.
There are many different types of special needs. A child may also have a combination of disabilities that may make learning or social activities more challenging. Some areas of developmental delays are:
- Emotional and social
What are Your Rights?
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that states people with disabilities are entitled to equal rights in employment, state and local public services, and public accommodations such as preschools, child care centers and family child care homes. To learn more about what is and what is not required of a child care program, please click here.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. IDEA protects a child with special needs by:
- Allowing parents or schools to request an evaluation of a child if they suspect that he or she may have special needs.
- Requiring public schools to provide free public education to children with identified special needs.
- Requiring each child with special needs to have an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), for children birth–2 years, or Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for children 3-21 years.
The first step to accessing community resources is to identify special needs. To request an assessment for your child ages birth through 2 years contact the Regional Center of Orange County at 714-796-4060. To request an assessment for your child ages 3–5 years contact the Irvine Unified School District Early Childhood Learning Center at 949-936-5857.
Inclusion allows all children (with or without special needs) to learn and play in the same environment with the services and support they need to be successful. Children may receive special services in these settings.
- List of child care programs with training and/or expertise in working with children with special needs: Orange County Childcare Planning and Development Council
City of Irvine Disability Services
City of Irvine Disability Services provides support services and social programs to persons with disabilities, their families, caregivers and providers who live or work in Irvine.


Cross–posted from the J-PAL blog.
Building on over a decade of rigorous research around the world and two years of iterative learning in Zambia, the Ministry of General Education will scale up a program called Catch Up to approximately 1,800 schools in Zambia over the next three years. Based on the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) approach pioneered by the Indian NGO Pratham, Catch Up aims to improve basic literacy and numeracy skills of primary school students in grades 3–5. The program drew on support from a number of collaborating partners, with J-PAL Africa working together with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Pratham, UNICEF, USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures, USAID Zambia, VVOB, and Zambia Education Sector Support Technical Assistance. The partners’ assistance included sharing global evidence on remedial education, shaping the design of Catch Up by mapping evidence to the Zambian context, supporting pilot implementation and monitoring, and assessing viability for scale up.
The ministry hopes Catch Up will address low-learning levels in the country. A 2014 national assessment found that 68 percent of grade 2 learners were unable to read a single word in their local language. Grade 5 students also scored poorly in local language and mathematics. Since 2015, J-PAL Africa has worked with the Zambian government in leveraging the evidence on TaRL to help design, pilot, and expand the Catch Up program. Together with ministry officials and cooperating partners, J-PAL Africa identified Zambia as an appropriate context for TaRL following extensive scoping of the country’s education sector that revealed low-learning outcomes among students in early grades, large variation of learning levels in the classroom, and government commitment to improving students’ basic skills.
J-PAL Africa, with several cooperating partners including Pratham and IPA Zambia, created a working group to develop the program’s various components. A subsequent learning journey to India allowed ministry officials to observe a TaRL program in action under Pratham and to meet with Indian government officials leading the program.
Over the past year, the government piloted Catch Up in eighty schools. To design the content and structure of the pilot, the Catch Up working group combined evidence on earlier TaRL programs with local knowledge of the particular demands and constraints of the Zambian education space. Together with Pratham, the working group developed teaching materials, assessment tools, classroom activities, and monitoring and mentoring processes tailored for the Zambian context. It also identified three potential models for students in grades 3–5, and piloted and assessed the performance of each during October 2016–July 2017. The Ministry of General Education, the Global Partnership for Education, UNICEF, and J-PAL’s Government Partnership Initiative provided financial support to the pilot. VVOB, a Flemish education NGO, provided technical support for implementation. IPA led an independent process monitoring of the pilot. ZESSTA contributed technical assistance and in-kind support.
In the coming months, the ministry’s Catch Up working group will feed the lessons from the pilot into the implementation of the program at scale. The next phase will start in January 2018 with support from USAID DIV and the USAID Zambia Mission.
About the authors:
- Reflections on seven years at J-PAL Africa working to inform policy with evidence - 04/09/2020
- The TaRL Africa Learning Agenda - 08/06/2020
- Accelerating Learning When Schools Resume - 27/05/2020


The first five years of our lives are considered to be significant in terms of emotional, cognitive, and social development. Day care in Karana attempts to make these years as fulfilling as possible for their children. During this stage, children pick up cues and learn to communicate with the outside world. Regular interaction with different people shapes their development in a healthy and consistent manner; it becomes imperative to enroll children in an early child care program to ensure consistent development.
Below are the four important reasons why you should focus on early childhood education:
1. Good Habits:
Early childhood education will help to inculcate good habits such as healthy and sanitary habits which may include washing hands, eating healthy, getting lots of sleep, treating people with respect among others. Kindergarten also naturally enforces routine, which is extremely vital especially when it comes to enrolling into school. The professionals available at child care centre in Karana know exactly what tools are most useful to help your child develop all necessary skills.
2. Develop key skills:
One of the major roles of early childhood educators goes into teaching your child the essential literacy and numeracy skills. Early childhood education helps in laying down an important foundation for education. It is worth noting that children learn these skills by listening to more tales, drawing shapes, talking about pictures, and socialising.
3. Emotional Strength:
Early childhood education in Karana gives your child the chance to develop key social skills which will assist in forming a strong and healthy relationship with the people around them. Your child will also learn how to bond with other children and learn how to share, listen properly, and convey their ideas. With time they will utilise these skills to make friends that will help in shaping their identity.
4. Bright future:
The advantages of early childhood education will prove useful for the rest of your child’s life. The skills that your child will learn in their first 5 years will play a vital role in their social and emotional development and of course, their overall success. Children who missed Kindy may remain vulnerable to development when they start their formal schooling.
As parents, you cannot overlook the benefits of early childhood education. Day care centre in Karana ensures that your child plays safely and learns new things, while you work in the office or organise things at home. So give your child the right kind of head start by sending them to a great childcare center – just like Karana child care at Eskay Kids.


Symmetry creates balance in drawings and is an important element to understand when drawing a wide range of subjects. People, animals, vehicles and endless other objects have symmetrical structures. Artists often create balanced and harmonious compositions using symmetrical guidelines for placing shapes on the picture plane. The basics of drawing symmetrically can be learned using a simple step-by-step process.
Things You'll Need:
Lightly sketch a vertical line down the center of the paper using a ruler. This will serve as the axis over which one side of your drawing mirrors the other. Think of how, when looking at someone's face, the left and right sides are generally the same. If you simulated a line down the middle of the face going between the eyes and over the nose and mouth you could choose one side, mirror it, and see basically the same whole face. This vertical axis line will serve as that mirror.
Draw half of the drawing on one side of the line. If you are drawing a butterfly, for example, draw one wing and one half of the body.
Locate an important point on your drawing, such as the center of the eye or tip of a wing. Measure its shortest distance to the axis line. Measure that same distance horizontally across on the opposite side of the axis line and mark that point. This point serves as the reference for where the corresponding point is located to indicate, for example, the center of the other eye or tip of the other wing. Duplicate this operation several times for other important locations on your drawing, such as the edge of the head or big shapes on the wing. The more of these points you make, the more frames of reference you will have for accurately drawing the other side of your picture.
Sketch in the remainder of the drawing using the framework of corresponding points. While doing so, it can be helpful to look at the axis line with your eyes while drawing. Though this may seem awkward at first, it allows your hand-eye coordination to better symmetrically copy what you see from one side to the other. For some artists, this is more effective than looking back and forth from one side to the other. Experiment to see which works better for you.
Try drawing and copying sections instead of drawing one whole side and duplicating it. Some artists experience this as a more balanced methodological process. Some drawings require much more sophisticated symmetry techniques. For example, drawing three-dimensional objects at three-quarters view will require studying perspective and practicing life-drawing.
- Try drawing and copying sections instead of drawing one whole side and duplicating it. Some artists experience this as a more balanced methodological process.
- Some drawings require much more sophisticated symmetry techniques. For example, drawing three-dimensional objects at three-quarters view will require studying perspective and practicing life-drawing.
Greg Turin is an artist and certified art educator with over five years of experience writing about art. His work can be found at websites such as Deviant Art and Sonic Eclectic. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Binghamton University as well as a Master of Arts in art education from Brooklyn College. He has learned and taught guitar since 2001.


Today we have free furry and slightly fierce wolf coloring pages. Download the wolf coloring sheets, grab your gray and black crayons or water color paints to create the perfect grey wolf portrait.
These unique drawings, wolf inspired color activities, are perfect coloring fun for kids of all ages and adults who are coloring fans.
Printable Wolf Coloring Pages
Historically wolves have been identified as wild dogs and feared for their sharp teeth and feisty reputation as a dangerous creature. Poor Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf or those 3 Little Pigs…need I say more? In real life a gray wolf would have grown up from a cute baby wolf pup in a wolf family into potentially the leader of the pack.
Today we are celebrating the wild animals with this printable wolf coloring page pack that has two pages of simple sketches. Speaking of packs, this seems perfect for celebrating wolves!
Let’s start with what you might need to enjoy this coloring sheet.
This article contains affiliate links.
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR WOLF COLORING SHEETS
This coloring page is sized for standard letter printer paper dimensions – 8.5 x 11 inches.
- Something to color with: favorite crayons, colored pencils, markers, paint, water colors…
- (Optional) Something to cut with: scissors or safety scissors
- (Optional) Something to glue with: glue stick, rubber cement, school glue
- The printed wolf coloring pages template pdf — see grey button below to download & print
Howling Wolf Coloring Pages
Our first page in this coloring set features a lone wolf howling at the full moon. With the tree pines behind it, the scene looks so majestic and really shows that wolves are magnificent animals.
This is a simpler line drawing that works great for younger children .
Iconic Wolf Picture Coloring Page
Our second coloring page features a fluffy wolf watching over the mountains and contemplating the full moon. There’s lots of empty space so older kids can add other details like rocks or clouds. Younger kids can use a larger crayon or paint brush without problem.
Download & Print Free Wolf Coloring Pages pdf Here
Things You Might Not Know About Wolves
Your little naturalist will need a wolf’s sense to decipher some interesting wolf facts from the animal world:
- Wolves on average weigh between 35-40 lbs which is considered a medium dog size domesticated dog, smaller than a Labrador Retriever and about the same size as a small Australian Shepherd.
- Wolves belong don’t always live in wolf packs. They may live as a lone wolf as they are between packs or as a longterm choice.
- The average wolf pack size is 8 wolves in the United States. Pack dynamics include they hunt and wolves help care for each other.
- The average wolf pack territories size is 14 square miles. They cover about 10% of that territories range each day. Think of all those paw prints!
- Wolves are part of the canid family which consists of 35 species. Some wolf names you might be familiar with are: white wolf, grey wolf, arctic wolf and timber wolf.
Developmental Benefits of Coloring Pages
We may think of coloring pages as just fun, but they also have some really cool benefits for both kids and adults:
- For kids: Fine motor skill development and hand-eye coordination develop with the action of coloring or painting coloring pages. It also helps with learning patterns, color recognition, structure of drawing and so much more!
- For adults: Relaxation, deep breathing and low-set up creativity are enhanced with coloring pages.
More Fun Coloring Pages & Printable Sheets from Kids Activities Blog
- We have the best collection of coloring pages for kids and adults!
- We have more zentangle fun! This zentangle zebra is so beautiful.
- Check out these easy mandalas to color.
- Download & print the bee coloring pages that also include a coloring tutorial.
- Make this simple dolphin drawing and then color!
- If you love Charlie Brown, you’ll love these Snoopy coloring pages too – isn’t Snoopy the ultimate dog?
- Download & print these cute puppy coloring pages.
- Make your own easy dog drawing with this free printable tutorial
- Learn how to draw a wolf all by yourself
Did you enjoy the free wolf coloring pages?


Across our district, our young readers participate in reading workshop, read-alouds, shared reading, explicit phonics instruction, small groups, guided reading, independent reading, and book clubs. Our goal is to create lifelong readers who are confident and independent. Students in all of our classrooms have access to a wide variety of choices of high quality children’s literature and have the opportunity to read a wide range of topics, authors, and genres. During reading workshop, students are taught explicit strategies to apply to their independent reading.
As part of reading workshop, students curate a variety of resources using digital tools to gather and share information, and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
First Grade Reading Workshop
Across the year, first graders will have access to all kinds of books to match the interests of your young reader. Students will have the opportunity to choose books they want to read, and will have time daily to practice reading and talking about books.
Examples of first grade units of study include:
- Building Good Reading Habits: First graders practice applying multiple strategies to choose “just right” books, build up their reading volume and stamina, and understand the books they read.
- Word Detectives: First graders learn strategies to solve trickier unfamiliar words in books they choose to read.
- Learning About the World: First graders read nonfiction books to study topics of their choice.
- Readers Have Big Jobs to Do: First graders learn strategies to help them hang on to the meaning in books that are longer and more complex than the books they were reading earlier in the year.
- Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons: First graders study characters in their books closely, to notice character traits, character change, and lessons that characters learn.
Note that units will vary from classroom to classroom.
Helping Outside of School
Popular first grade books and authors: Biscuit series, Gossie and Gertie series, Fly Guy series, Mo Willems (Piggie and Elephant series), Cynthia Rylant, National Geographic Kids


Date of this Version
Urbigkit, A. (2019). The Effects of Students’ Race on Listeners’ Perception of Classical Music Performance. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
This research study seeks to understand how listeners’ perceptions of race influence the ways in which they hear a classical music performance. Participants, all music pre-professionals from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, received information of a group of three young performers, accompanied by a short audio excerpt. Participants were split into two categories through random assignment, with one group being given a description where the performers were Black, and the other group and description where the performers were White. No other information about the performers were changed. Following the audio excerpt, participants answered a set of three surveys: the first focusing on their thoughts on the performance, the second on their views of music education and the third on their beliefs about the school and community that the students were said to have come from. Through these surveys, the researcher sought to see if audience members would rate the performance more harshly had it been given by a set of Black performers, as well as whether they were to assume that the Black musicians had come from a lesser quality school. Results indicated that there was slight bias towards White performers regarding the quality of performance. Results also pointed toward a higher likelihood that participants are more likely to believe that a student of color is more likely to belong to a school with higher poverty, more racial diversity and less academic success than White students. Discussion focusing on the implications of the current music education system within public schools concludes the document.


3. The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program. Provides a framework that sets the foundation of educational thought by becoming familiar with the interrelations of schooling community and legal issues impacting American educational systems. 1. Hass (1980): The curriculum is all of the experiences that individual learners have in a program of education whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related specific objectives, which is planned in terms of a framework of theory and research or past and present professional practice. (Hons) Elementary/Secondary for Entrants with having 14 years Education, Bachelor + 4 Semester Program Communication among all those involved in the driver education program will be stressed (student, parent/guardian/mentor, instructor). While in class, students will participate in various instructional strategies both individually and in group settings. What Is A Curriculum Education Essay. Through this submission, I will address my understanding of curriculum design, implementation and evaluation. After all, nearly 1,000 years encompass the period of these two civilizations! BASIC CONTENT General Courses Specific Courses Degree or Certification 4. The teacher education curriculum leading to full certification is the heart of the Pathways program. • Present and designed differently for all student levels. The introduction of a revised primary curriculum is, therefore, a … Introduction to Classical Education ... for there is a good deal of variety in the curriculum and approach of both the Greeks and the Romans. TYPES OF CURRICULUM 1. In dictionaries, curriculum is often defined as the courses offered by a school, but it is rarely used in such a general sense in schools. C:\Users\Bhavna\Desktop\sidivinayak.jpg. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VS. HIGHER EDUCATION Primary and Secondary Education Higher Education 5. Primary School Curriculum Introduction vii Education is an important factor both in the day-to-day development of the child and in contributing to the personal, social, cultural and economic fulfilment of the future adult. The driver education program goals, course structure, testing and … CURRICULUM • A prescribed course. Still, there are common themes that run through the educational practices of Depending on how broadly educators define or employ the term, curriculum typically refers to the knowledge and skills students are … lulu@Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Education@Paris, Beeve and Springer@College of the Canyons@Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Education Introduction to Education (3) Studies the historical, philosophical, and sociological underpinnings of education. An Introduction 2. • Offered in all schools. B.Ed. (Hons) Secondary 8 Semester Program and B.Ed. It is the vehicle for developing and enhancing the skills that participants must acquire in order to successful ly teach students in the partner school districts. Curriculum. Introduction to Education gives prospective teachers a proper introduction to the field of education. Objectives The student and parent/guardian/mentor will gain an understanding of: 1. There is a strong emphasis on present-day practices, issues, and theories while also exploring ethics and educational history. Introduction. OER program or Publisher College of the Canyons - Zero Textbook Cost Program Show TOC no; Tags.
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Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin and is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.
These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Dyslexia is a language-based condition rather than a vision-based condition. Students with dyslexia struggle with the relationship between letters and sounds.
Because of this, they have a hard time decoding, or sounding out, unfamiliar words, and instead often misread them based on an overreliance on their sight-word memory. Deficits are unexpected relative to cognitive abilities in that the student’s skills are lower than their overall ability and are not due to a lack of intelligence.
• Governor's Early Literacy Foundation Family Reading Time at Home Guides: https://bestforall.tnedu.gov/binder/governors-early-literacy-foundation-family-reading-time-home-guides
• Foundational Skills Videos Grades Pre-K-2: https://bestforall.tnedu.gov/course/foundational-skills
• Dyslexia Overview for Parents: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/special-education/dys/Say_Dyslexia_Parent_Info_Sheet.pdf
• Descripción General de la Dislexia Para Padres (Spanish): https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/special-education/dys/Say_Dyslexia_Parent_Info_Spanish.pdf
• The TN Dyslexia Resource Guide: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/special-education/dys/dyslexia_resource_guide.pdf
• Tennessee Dyslexia Hotline: 901-468-3611
• Center for Dyslexia / Middle Tennessee University: http://www.mtsu.edu/dyslexia
• Dear Colleague Letter/Office of Special Education Programs/United States Department of Education:https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/guidance-on-dyslexia-10-2015.pdf
• Decoding Dyslexia Tennessee: https://decodingdyslexiatn.wordpress.com
• Florida Center for Reading Research: http://fcrr.org
• International Dyslexia Association (IDA): https://dyslexiaida.org
• International Dyslexia Association-Tennessee Branch: http://tnida.org
• National Center for Learning Disabilities: www.ncld.org
• Support and Training for Exceptional Parents (STEP, Inc.): http://www.tnstep.org/
• Vanderbilt University Research Study: Not all reading disabilities are dyslexia: https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2013/06/14/reading-disabilities-not-dyslexia/
• Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy: www.wrightslaw.com
• Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity: http://dyslexia.yale.edu/


Recent studies have shown positive links between engagement with music and academic achievement. Music helps develop the student behind the actual musical score and provides the foundations for students who are curious, motivated, engaged, and confident in their ability to succeed in our society. Access and opportunities in Music education provides students the opportunity to receive immediate feedback and to reflect on their progress, teaches them to make the needed adjustments, and provides opportunities to improve their craft based on their own observations of their own and others’ performances. As students are engaged, they learn the value of discipline, determination, and “grit” by setting and achieving goals even in the face of obstacles, gaining confidence and self-understanding. Every day in Peoria Unified students have access and opportunities with guidance from more than 140 Arts Educators to help them reach their goals and help to shape their future!
Today, on day six of the virtual 2021 Peoria Arts and Cultural Festival, Peoria Unified invites you to see for yourself the outcomes of not only music education, but all Arts education through the work and performances from our students at Raymond S. Kellis High School and its feeder schools; Cotton Boll Elementary, Country Meadows Elementary, and Sun Valley Elementary.
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These quotes (from Review of Educational Research) are no surprise. Who wants to do schoolwork over summer? There are far too many other fun activities going on. Yet a little extra focus on skills, especially in August, can boost students for the start of school in the fall.
Specifically, in the above-referenced study, the authors pointed out that spelling and math computation suffer the most. Skills are academic muscles- they need to be developed and constantly pumped or they lose steam. Fluency and speed in computational math – the basics in adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing – can dramatically change a student’s success in school as well as their self-confidence with math. Having these foundational skills being performed automatically (this is called “automaticity”) paves the way for higher level math concepts. On the other hand, I see students even in high school who struggle every day with math facts – for example counting by 7’s every time to arrive at “42” for 7 times 6. Some students legitimately struggle with memorizing facts, but most can nail them down with a little extra practice.
In August, only ten minutes a day spent with your child reviewing skills at their grade level can ease the entry into the school year. This doesn’t have to be done with pen and paper if you have a reluctant-to-do-schoolwork-in-summer child. Here are three simple ways to get in 10 quick minutes of practice (adjust as needed for age and level):
Please let me know if you have any questions! Also, check out August Math Boosters at www.bluemarblelearningcenter.com.
Research Related to this Blog:


Plan Toys Wooden Lacing Beads
This pack of 30 wooden beads come in six different shapes and vibrant colours, and two laces for threading.
Each bead has a hole through the middle making them great for threading string through. Great for counting games, colours, numbers, maths, shape recognition as well as threading all sorts of patterns and colour combinations. Lacing games are great for developing fine motor skills and are an early years learning essential in Waldorf and Montessori settings. Ethically made with sustainable rubber wood and painted with child-safe water-based colour.
- 30 beads measuring 3 - 3.7cm in diameter.
- Suitable for 3+ years
- Sensory: tactile stimulation, fine motor skill development and concentration. Colour and shape recognition and sorting.
Plan Toys are the original eco toy maker leading the way in sustainable manufacturing and quality wooden toys to stimulate young children. Plan Toys use rubber wood from trees that no longer produce latex and would otherwise be burnt. They also create some toys from 'eco Plan Wood' which is made from another waste product, the roots of the rubber trees. This sustainable wood source is then kiln dried without the use of chemicals, glued together with Plan Toy's own e-zero formaldehyde free glue and dyed with water based dyes to create a wonderful selection of eco friendly wooden toys.
Fast delivery & great service
We ship our products worldwide using Royal mail and fast courier services. We have lots of regular shoppers from all around the world.


Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by our setting helps children to continue to do this by providing them with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. We offer children learning and development opportunities which inspire their creativity and
engage all of their senses.
We believe that our outdoor classroom is an essential part of early learning at Dottie Tots Nursery School and believe that nature is one of our greatest teachers!
Personal, Social Emotional Development
We focus on teaching children how to interact and play with others, be it on a one-to- one basis, in pairs or in a small group. We explore themes such as friendship, conflict resolution, and feelings, all about me, special people and celebrations.
Communication and Language
At Dottie Tots Nursery School we believe that communication and language is the foundation for Literacy. Through our gentle approach, we give children plenty of opportunity to use communication and language. We use visual aids for children, as we understand that they learn visually too. We allow children to express their feelings and needs through communication, along with giving them plenty of opportunities to share special occasions, events or a toy with us through our circle time activities.
We use a large and small scale climbing apparatus, including plenty of outdoor activities. Our children learn from musical movement, sports games and dance to promote their gross motor control, co-ordination and spatial awareness. We use a range of tools as part of our table top activities to encourage fine motor skills.
These include sorting activities, using large tweezers, threading and using spanners to fix nuts and bolts together.
We aim to provide the children with opportunities to communicate competently and have a wide range of early writing and mark making materials available to them, along with a very welcoming reading area where they can take themselves off to relax and look at a range of story books. Our self registration system, word prompts on our displays and our literacy specific
activities all play an important role in supporting early literacy development.
Our mathematical activities focus on numbers and shape, space and measure. We use various sorting activities to support children with mathematical concepts and introduce mathematical ideas across the curriculum; applying these to everyday life and real experiences. Our teaching methods, coupled with purposeful resources ensure that our children can visualise
patterns and structures of numeration and gradually, step by step, they begin to understand and apply this knowledge.
Expressive Arts and Design
We provide children with a range of opportunities to express themselves. They may choose to experiment with different instruments during a music session or through movement as we dance. Children are always given the opportunity to take on a role in their play, through make-believe and imagination. Adults will always plan for future activities when children show particular interests, to engage children to further with their ideas. Messy play and exploration is encouraged, part of our day and an essential part of children expressing themselves creatively.
Understanding the World
Our learning environment together with the opportunities that our beautiful village lends to our understanding of the world stimulates natural curiosity, interests and a sense of belonging.
Extra Curricular Activities
We offer regular French lessons with Madame Sylvie and Spanish lessons too. All of our children have the opportunity to join in with our mindfulness yoga class. Our Boppin Dance classes are very popular ; the children are working towards an end of term show, where they will have the chance to perform to parents.


Planks for Block Play
Wooden blocks come in a variety of shapes and sizes. KAPLA building blocks are unique. Harvested from sustainable pine forests in the south of France. Laser-cut for precision in Morocco. Each unfinished pine plank in this wooden construction toy measures precisely 4 1/2″ x 1″ x 1/4″. As a result, planks adjoin perfectly for balance and even weight distribution. Children have to figure out how to use the identical planks in this wooden construction toy to build well balanced structures that don’t fall down. These simple planks fascinate both children and adults. That’s what makes KAPLA Blocks appealing for intergenerational play.
Origins of KAPLA
In fact, Tom van de Bruggen invented the blocks so that he could create three dimensional models of architectural drawings. Because he wanted to see what the structure he was designing would look like. He based his plank on the progressions of the uneven numbers 1:3:5. That’s why the planks are three thicknesses for one width and five widths for one length. KAPLA is an abbreviation of Kabouter Plankjes, Dutch for gnome planks, a perfect name for wooden planks for building models.
Blocks and Children Grow Together
Playing with blocks is a universal early childhood learning experience. One that builds skills in every area of human development. What begins when a baby picks up a block and throws it evolves as she grows. The composition of the blocks changes as the child ages. Lightweight, soft, and squeezable cubes gradually give way to classic wooden blocks in a variety of shapes and sizes. Initially young children arrange blocks in rows, then progress to stacking. Block play and children grow together. From the beginning blocks invite children to explore and discover. As they do, they build skills. Gradually they acquire more skills, and the way they play changes. Building becomes more complex.
Block Play Is Invaluable
Block play involves all areas of human development at all ages. It develops gross and fine motor skills: balance and coordination, grasp and release, dexterity, eye-hand coordination. As well as creativity, logical thinking, organizing, planning, and problem solving. In addition, spatial awareness develops as structures take form. Because obstacles arise, successful projects also require focus, patience, and perseverance. Learning to deal with setbacks is essential.
In addition children learn basic principles of mathematics and science. Specifically an awareness of shape, dimensionality, and volume. As well as an experiential understanding of balance and stability and the unyielding force of gravity. Along the way they begin to figure out how many planks they need to build what they’re planning.
Block play can be solitary or in a group. Working with others develops valuable social skills. From attentive listening while communicating clearly to compromise, and cooperation. With KAPLA building blocks, the key to success is building a solid base. Doing so requires and refines all these skills.


If you have a toddler, chances are you have a range of stacking toys at home. They look great but do you know their benefits? I want you and your little one to get the most from our products so I have compiled a list with all the benefits of playing with stacking toys.
Motor Skill Development - children learn how to pick up a piece, manipulate it and let it go again. These sorts of actions will allow your little one to continue to work on their fine motor skills and develop intentional grip skills. For younger babies, sitting up in order to stack their toys allows them to work on gross motor skills such as core strength which will be needed for every day movements later on.
Cause and Effect - Here you will see the earliest steps towards your child understanding consequences. The "what if I do this" stage of learning is very important and will set your child up with important skills later on.
Problem Solving - Stacking toys facilitate problem solving skills and encourage patience. Through trial and error, your little one will learn how to stack their toy in the correct order - whether that be size, colour or shape.
Size Sequencing - Stacking toys generally rely on a child stacking from largest to smallest piece. Allow your child to explore the shape and feel of each sized piece and encourage them to place them in order by what they feel is correct.
Colour Recognition - Colour is very important for a child's development so try to rotate toys that have an element of colour. It engages their senses and they are naturally drawn to it. Play with your child and use it as an opportunity to practise their colour recognition. Depending on your child's age, this can involve you showing the colour and speaking the word "ie: Pink", asking your child to point to the 'pink' item, or with sentences such as "the pink one comes next, can you find the pink shape?"
Creative Play - most importantly, allow your child freedom to play with the toy however they wish. Allow them to place pieces in the 'wrong' order, upside down, back to front etc. Not only does this contribute to problem solving (as discussed above), it facilities creativity and ultimately creates a positive play environment for your child.
We are proud to offer a range of stacking toys that will suit children of all ages.
For younger children, the Mushie stacking cups are a winner. Not only are they are great size to grip, they can be used with water which will make bath time a whole lot more fun.
For slightly older toddlers, explore our range of Miva Vacov stacking animals. The smaller pieces will allow pincer grips but the central post still offers some size guidance.
Older children will love the range of Dio Toys stacking animals. Complete freedom to stack in any manner they choose. How many stack varieties can they achieve?
I hope you found this helpful. If there's other forms of play you'd like explored in a blog post, let me know below. I'd also love to know, how have you incorporated stacking toys in to your little one's play?


Resources › For Educators How to Brainstorm in the Classroom Share Flipboard Email Print BraunS / Getty Images For Educators Special Education Lesson Plans Applied Behavior Analysis Behavior Management Math Strategies Reading & Writing Social Skills Inclusion Strategies Individual Education Plans Becoming A Teacher Assessments & Tests Elementary Education Secondary Education Teaching Homeschooling By Sue Watson Education Expert Sue Watson is a developmental support counselor who has worked in public education since 1991, specializing in developmental services, behavioral work, and special education. our editorial process Sue Watson Updated July 18, 2019 Brainstorming is an excellent teaching strategy to generate ideas on a given topic. Brainstorming helps promote thinking skills. When students are asked to think of all things related to a concept, they are really being asked to stretch their thinking skills. All too often, a child with special learning needs will say they don't know. However, with the technique of brainstorming, the child says what comes to mind as it relates to the topic. Brainstorming promotes success for students with special needs as there is no one right answer. Let's say that the brainstorm topic is "weather", the students would state whatever comes to mind, which would most likely include words like rain, hot, cold, temperature, seasons, mild, cloudy, stormy, etc. Brainstorming is also a terrific idea to do for bell work (when you have just 5-10 minutes to fill just prior to the bell). Brainstorming Is an Excellent Strategy To... Use in the inclusive classroom Tap into prior knowledge Give all students a chance to express their ideas Eliminate fear of failures Show respect for each other Try something without fear Tap into individuality and creativity Eliminate the fear of risk-taking Here are some basic rules to follow when conducting a brainstorm in the classroom with a small or whole group of students: There are no wrong answers Try to get as many ideas as possible Record all ideas Do not express your evaluation on any idea presented Prior to starting a new topic or concept, the brainstorm session will provide teachers with a great deal of information regarding what the student may or may not know. Brainstorming Ideas to Get You Started What are all the things you can do with a ball? (marble, stick, book, elastic, apple, etc.) How many things are white? blue? green? etc. What are all the methods of travel? How many types of insects, animals, flowers, trees do you know? How many ways can you describe the way something is said? (whispered, shrieked, bellowed, yelled, retorted, etc.) How many things can you think of that are sweet? salty? sour? bitter? etc. How many ways can you describe the ocean? mountains? etc. What if there were no cars? rain? butterflies? cigarettes? What if all cars were yellow? What if you were caught in a tornado? What if it never stopped raining? What if the school day was only half days? went all year? Once the brainstorming activity is done, you have a great deal of information on where to take the topic next. Or, if the brainstorming activity is done as bell work, link it to a current theme or topic to enhance knowledge. You can also categorize/classify the student's answers once the brainstorm is done or separate it out and let students work in groups on each of the sub-topics. Share this strategy with parents who have children who are insecure about sharing, the more they brainstorm, the better they get at it and thus enhancing their thinking skills. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Watson, Sue. "How to Brainstorm in the Classroom." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/brainstorm-in-the-classroom-3111340. Watson, Sue. (2020, August 27). How to Brainstorm in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/brainstorm-in-the-classroom-3111340 Watson, Sue. "How to Brainstorm in the Classroom." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/brainstorm-in-the-classroom-3111340 (accessed August 1, 2021). copy citation Watch Now: How to Brainstorm for a Paper?


Many students are very excited to learn to play an instrument like the piano, and when given the opportunity to develop their skills, they excel and find joy in music. But sometimes, students are put into a difficult position when the parent has unrealistic expectations of musical success, or an indifferent attitude of the small challenges their child has worked through on their instrument. In order for a child to truly succeed in their musical endeavors, parents must be fully involved in their child’s learning. Read below about what it takes to be a supportive and engaged music parent, even if you don’t know anything about music.
Encourage your child to learn, don’t force them. Parents are critical stakeholders in their child’s music education, but that doesn’t mean they should push their child’s limits. Children should be allowed to discover naturally, persevere through problems, feel curious, channel self-discipline in wanting to learn, be optimistic, and practice self-control. They need to believe they have what it takes to conquer learning to read music and play an instrument. It is the role of the parent to encourage the child that they have the skills to figure things out.
Celebrate the little victories in practice time. Practicing an instrument is difficult and can be overwhelming at times. By taking the time to celebrate small achievements, such as playing the G Major scale hands together with correct fingering, a child is more likely to continue believing they can learn how to play an instrument. Parents should actively listen to their child practicing to pinpoint these small victories. Shower your child with praise when they get it right!
Find yourself on the piano bench with your child. When a child is going through a particularly hard time, sit with them at the piano bench. Frustration is something to work through with someone they are comfortable with, rather than alone. Ask your child what part is hard, or which line is confusing, and do your best to work through it with them. Tell them to take the lead in showing you how it is supposed to be done. Make it a point to diffuse the difficult situation by getting them to “teach” you the piece of music.
Regularly ask your child about how music lessons are going. By taking a bit of time out of our day to just ask our children how music lessons are going, their brains begin activating and firing. Keep music theory books and/or flashcards in the car, to take advantage of spare moments in traffic when they may be bored. Have them describe the most fun part of learning, as well as the most challenging. By vocalizing these concerns, children are more likely to be open to communicating with their parents about their music education.
Always bring your child to lessons on time and prepared. Parents who regularly bring their children to lessons on time and with all their books and materials have an easier time actively engaging their children in music lessons. Children don’t have any control over this, so it is up to the parent to be responsible. Leading by example is critical to communicating the importance of being on time and prepared for your child, and shows them that you care enough about their music education to make the effort to get them there eager and ready.
Converse with the teacher about your child’s progress. Make it a point to sit in a lesson every now and then, and ask the teacher how your child is doing. If talking in person isn’t an option, give the teacher a phone call, or send a quick email. Most teachers would be happy to talk more in detail about a student’s progress, and it will start a conversation about areas where they may be struggling and excelling.
Find common ground in learning an instrument. If you are a parent that took music lessons as a child, share these experiences with your children. Both positive and negative experiences are beneficial to a child to hear, as they can relate with the challenges they are currently facing when learning their instrument. Talk openly about how you felt when learning how to jump from middle to high register on a flute or trumpet, and encourage your child to keep working to accomplish these small goals.
Sound Off: When did you find you were most influential in helping your child with music lessons? Did you have actively involved parents when you were learning an instrument?


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Literacy is an amazing thing. It helps us read the instructions on a shampoo bottle (wet, lather, rinse, repeat) and make sense of the latest e-mail “good luck” chain (send this to 10 people, or else). As I have discussed in previous posts, oral language, reading and writing all come together in this idea of literacy. As your child’s first and most important teacher, you can do a lot to support literacy development.
For young children, adults should focus on two primary literacy goals. The first is to help them fall in love with the amazing world of stories and words. The first post in this series provided ideas on how families can support children’s oral language development. Families also support this goal by reading or telling stories with children. Even 10 minutes of reading aloud a day has a remarkable impact on children’s views of literature and future literacy attainment. Some of my best memories of my children’s childhood are of us curled up together reading stories. From Taxi Dog to the tales of Narnia, all of our lives were enriched in so many ways by our nightly literary adventures.
The second goal is to help them build a foundational understanding of literacy. For parents of young children, there are six ways they can incorporate literacy in real ways into their homes.
Once children develop the foundational understanding of literacy, the other stuff (identifying letters, matching sounds and letters, putting letters together to make words) comes more easily. For young children, we want literacy to be fun and engaging. We want them to aspire to the day when they can read stories on their own or write their own messages to friends, to reap the fruits of being fully literate human beings.


Kindergarten-Animals in Action 2
1st Grade-Setting the Scene 1
After listening to or reading a familiar fairy tale, the students chose one scene from the story to recreate in ScratchJr. They were responsible for creating the scene with backgrounds, characters, action, and voice recordings.
2nd Grade-Computer Science Explorers 1
The students learned about the encompassing nature of computer science and how it is used in our everyday lives. They read a story and informational piece about computer science and began to work on a program that will keep score as they play a math game.
3rd Grade-Variables Rule 1
4th Grade-Senses Exploration 2
Each part of the brain regulates specific functions in the body. The students learned about how our senses receive input, how our sense receptors are specialized, and the part of the brain responsible for each sense. Rotating through stations, the students watched a short animated video about the sense, labelled a diagram of the body for that sense, and completed an experiment using the sense.
5A & 5B-Inputs/Outputs 2
5C & 5D-Data Collection & Display 2
Using the Tynker iPad app, the students are learning to code their first game by following step-by-step directions. The students learned about x and y axes, how to add characters to the game, and code actions the characters can follow.
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.


Learning Support provides one-on-one tuition for students who are not yet achieving their potential in reading, writing and math. We also provide professional development workshops for teachers and support staff working with students with specific learning differences.
Learning Support’s individualised programmes meet the specific needs of each struggling learner. No two children share the same set of strengths or areas of weaknesses. Our effective programmes utilise your child’s strengths in order to build on their specific areas in need of development.
Initial assessment to identify needs
Our starting point is an assessment by Learning Support. This assessment identifies the specific needs of individual students so that a customised programme can be developed. This assessment also helps us to determine which of the programmes we provide would be best for each individual student.
We do not provide an official diagnosis of a specific learning difficulty such as Dyslexia, this can only be done by a registered Education Psychologist. In some cases it may also be necessary to seek a full educational assessment with an Educational Psychologist. You will find names of assessors on our useful links page.
Our programmes are delivered using a variety of techniques based on the learning needs of each student and include:
- Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)
- Repeated reading activities
- Reading comprehension strategies
- Phonics programmes
- Memory training
- Assisted technologies such as WordQ for writing
The composition of our programmes has been developed in conjunction with the recommendations and input of Educational Psychologists in Wellington.
Underpinning all of the above is providing a learning environment that is:
Students with learning difficulties may struggle to get the help and support they need within a large class environment. Over time, this can erode self-confidence. An important element of Learning Support programmes is to provide each student with conscious and positive encouragement throughout each lesson.
- Measurable progress
- Improved confidence and self-esteem.


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Encourage Your Student to Explore Campus Career ServicesTami Campbell
Students take about 10 courses of increasing difficulty and specialization in the major they choose. Choosing their major can feel daunting! Learning a little more about majors yourself is a great way to support your student and to help take a little stress out of this decision.
Majors may be very specific, with the goal of preparing your student for a certain profession — for example, hospitality management, elementary education or aerospace engineering — or they may be more general, such as history, economics or biology.
Your student’s academic advisor, and counselors at the campus career center, can help your student learn more about majors and how they connect to possible careers. Your student’s choice of major is important, but most majors can prepare your student for a variety of careers, and in the highly mobile 21st century labor market, it's likely that your student will have many careers over the course of their lifetime.
It is certainly appropriate to expect your student to do some self-reflection to understand what kind of work they might want to do after college (if they haven't already decided on a career path) and to start researching the best ways to prepare for these jobs. Their authentic interests should drive their choice of major and also choices they make about other activities they will do during college to prepare for life after graduation: volunteering, a campus job, joining clubs and student organizations, summer internships, etc.
Because a college degree is a big financial investment for a family, parents are sometimes concerned that certain majors aren't "practical." Keep in mind that future employers will value the critical thinking and other skills acquired by liberal arts graduates.
If you and your student would like to learn more about the potential value of their college degree (based on where they go to school and what they major in), take a look at the Georgetown University study "The Economic Value of College Majors." The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is another good resource for information about the kinds of jobs that will be available in the coming decade along with typical salaries.
College move-in is approaching! Help your student prepare by making sure they have everything they need for a successful freshman year.


What is Music Learning Theory?
Music learning theory (MLT) is basically a model for music education; based on Edwin Gordon’s findings that explains all the harmonic patterns, rhythmic and tonal. Joy Morin one of the piano teacher explains About Music Learning Theory (MLT). This is her story that she was introduced to music theory in 2008 September when she was an undergraduate student. She was very charmed that Gordon said and she changed herself because of him as she completed her master’s degree and later on started her own piano studio in 2017 summer and 2016 summer. First she completed her piano certification and later on she finished her music certification that was issued by Gordon institute for learning music. She remember everything that she learnt from Mr. Gordon’s told her regarding how to be a best music teacher and that’s the reason she started to make herself familiar with his writings and research.
MLT is quiet a new thing in the modern era while it is gaining now the recognition in the recent times. The piano teachers are mostly unfamiliar with the music education but those people who are old in the music industry are familiar with the concept.
All the folks who are not familiar with it, they will know what is meaning of MLT as the name indicates already.
The people who are closely related to music they might know the similarity between “music learning theory” and Edwin E. Gordon. The term looks to be very similar with Gordon’s work.
However, I would like to recommended for the piano teachers to be fully aware of the music learning theory.
Visit https://melodica.ae to learn how to play musical instruments like piano, guitar, violin, drums, etc.


All the people over the world strive for knowledge, but the ways for it are very different.
The American system of school education differs from the system in other countries. There are state public schools, private elementary schools and private secondary schools in the USA. Public schools are free and private schools are fee-paying. Each state has its own system of public schools.
Americans take great pride in their schools, and want their children to have the best possible education. There arre more than 57 million students enrolled in schools and universities. New methods of instruction that encourage children to develop their creative abilities are being devised and tested in schools. Today there is a strong emphasis on science, mathematics and foreign languages, and an effort is being made to broaden the students’ knowledge of other peoples and cultures. Television and motion pictures are widely used in teaching. More effort is being made to guide young people into careers suited to their taalents and abilities.
The federal government pays little attention to schools. Elementary education begins at the age of six, when a child goes to the first grade (form). At the age of sixteen schoolchildren leave the elementary school and may continue ed
One percent of American citizens from age of 14 and older can neither read nor write. Over 2 million American children do not go to school, and six million attend only first grade. More than 50 percent of school students do not fiinish high school.
The peculiar feature of American education is the absence of national administration. Each of the 50 states controls and directs its own schools. There is no uniform school organization of curriculum through the nation. But certain common features exist. Preschool education is part of the elementary schools. Elementary and secondary schools consist of twelve years of classes that meet for about ten months a year, five days a week and five hours a day.
Today, about half of the yo
In the United States, the term “college” refers to an institution requiring a secondary school certificate for admission and granting a degree after four years of study. It is often used in place of the world “university”. A college may or may not be a part of a university, which ordinarily offers postgraduate programs and grants professional degrees. The University of California, the nation’s largest university, has over 121,000 students on its many branch campuses.
The most of higher education is substantial in private colleges and universities, but is much less in those supported by states and cities. A large number of students work to help pay their expenses; many receive scholarship grants, some of which cover almost the entire expenses of attending college.
In 1982 some 935,000 students received bachelor’s degrees; 70,000 first professional degrees; 295,739, master’s degrees; and 32,958, doctorates.
Each year Congress appropriates funds to assist states in furthering their public education programs. In 1965 financial aid was also extended to private and parochial schools for the first time. Th
Since the important 1954 Supreme Court decision that ordered an and to separate schools for black and white students, the federal government has become increasingly committed to a program of providing equal educational opportunity. Of the more than 11 million students in colleges and universities, 11 percent are black.
Every year more than 15 million adults take adult education courses that range from engineering to writing poetry. They may be housewives, businessmen, clerks, mechanics or laborers. Many adult education courses are given at night in public schools, town halls and community centers.