Contents |
| 1. |
Summer Foods Fuel Learning
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| 2. |
Fun Writing Activities for the Summer Holidays!
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| 3. |
Boys and Summer Reading
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| 4. |
Why We Should Take Play Seriously
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| 5. |
Tutor Doctor one-on-one in-home tutoring. Why Summer Reading Matters
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| 6. |
Tutors for all ages. When The Letter Arrives: What To Do About College Decisions
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| 7. |
8 kid entrepreneurs to watch
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| 8. |
Should U.S. high schools require students speak English to graduate?
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| 9. |
In Home Tutoring Services
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| 10. |
How to Handle Dawdling
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| 11. |
The Role of Child Care Centers in the Modern World
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| 12. |
How To Encourage Your Child to Read
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| 13. |
Holiday Cooking Science Lab
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| 14. |
Private or Public?
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| 15. |
The Top 6 Books for High School Students
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| 16. |
An Apple a Day Can Help Kids Make the Grade
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| 17. |
Discipline & Homework: Creating a Study Space
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| 18. |
Homework: How Much Should You Help
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| 19. |
The Khan Academy: Changing the Face of Education
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| 20. |
Giving Thanks: Teach Your Child the Gift of Gratitude
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| # |
Blog Titles |
| 1. |
Summer Foods Fuel Learning
Tutor Doctor offers fun ways to keep the brain at its best by eating and incorporating summer foods into learning:
- Brain foods: Eat delicious summer foods with your children. Fruits and veggies from every color of the rainbow such as blueberries, strawberries, avocados, pomegranates, spinach and sweet potatoes are packed with antioxidants that improve memory and increase alertness. For example, blueberries and avocados improve learning capacity, motor skills and cognitive function which will help your children in all aspects of their education.
- Eat and Talk: Talking about about fruits and veggies as you eat them, such as, their origins, where they grow, how they grow, and what they look like can be valuable teaching moments to learn about history and science. For instance, did you know Gregor Mendel was able to learn about modern genetics through cross-pollinating the pea plant? Grab a bag of sugar snap peas to gnash on while talking about Mendel's inheritance experiments and make snack time a science discussion.
- Plant: Set up a garden space for your student to grow a fruit, veggie or herb of their choice. Help them plant and teach them how to take care of their garden by setting up a watering and pruning calendar while tracking the plant's growth. This will teach your children to keep a schedule and reinforce math skills necessary to measure the plant and track the calendars.
- Cook: Visit the local farmer's market and have your children pick out what they'd like to eat for dinner. Practice writing and reading capabilities by having them make a list of fruits and veggies and picking out recipes. Cook the dish together and incorporate measurement skills and equivalents by having them measure out cups, ounces and spoon sizes.
In addition to seasonal foods, students can take advantage of Tutor Doctor tutoring services for supplemental learning activities throughout the summer. Tutor Doctor uses a variety of well-known books and educational materials to supplement customized programs, but the franchise primarily leverages the curriculum and text the student is currently working with to ensure the most relevant tutoring is provided. Tutor Doctor also works with the students'current teacher to ensure that they are meeting both the student's and teacher's expectations.
Tutor Doctor offers fun ways to keep the brain at its best by eating and incorporating summer foods into learning:
- Brain foods: Eat delicious summer foods with your children. Fruits and veggies from every color of the rainbow such as blueberries, strawberries, avocados, pomegranates, spinach and sweet potatoes are packed with antioxidants that improve memory and increase alertness. For example, blueberries and avocados improve learning capacity, motor skills and cognitive function which will help your children in all aspects of their education.
- Eat and Talk: Talking about about fruits and veggies as you eat them, such as, their origins, where they grow, how they grow, and what they look like can be valuable teaching moments to learn about history and science. For instance, did you know Gregor Mendel was able to learn about modern genetics through cross-pollinating the pea plant? Grab a bag of sugar snap peas to gnash on while talking about Mendel's inheritance experiments and make snack time a science discussion.
- Plant: Set up a garden space for your student to grow a fruit, veggie or herb of their choice. Help them plant and teach them how to take care of their garden by setting up a watering and pruning calendar while tracking the plant's growth. This will teach your children to keep a schedule and reinforce math skills necessary to measure the plant and track the calendars.
- Cook: Visit the local farmer's market and have your children pick out what they'd like to eat for dinner. Practice writing and reading capabilities by having them make a list of fruits and veggies and picking out recipes. Cook the dish together and incorporate measurement skills and equivalents by having them measure out cups, ounces and spoon sizes.
In addition to seasonal foods, students can take advantage of Tutor Doctor tutoring services for supplemental learning activities throughout the summer. Tutor Doctor uses a variety of well-known books and educational materials to supplement customized programs, but the franchise primarily leverages the curriculum and text the student is currently working with to ensure the most relevant tutoring is provided. Tutor Doctor also works with the students'current teacher to ensure that they are meeting both the student's and teacher's expectations.
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| 2. |
Fun Writing Activities for the Summer Holidays!
Why are you making me do this? It’s not fair! No one else has to work over summer...attach any sort of “child labor” connotation and the battle begins. However, writing over the summer can be fun and provide all of you with some memorable moments.
Here are some suggestions to encourage your child to write in a fun and creative way that won’t be perceived as work:
1. Joke/Tongue Twister/Riddle Diary – record several each day to share in the car or just before bed.
2. Jigsaw Letter –with a picture on one side and a letter on the other; cut into pieces and mail to grandparents. It’s even better if grandparents reciprocate.
3. Menu Planning – plan your meal, write out recipes, ingredients/groceries, and send out invitations to family and friends. Ask your guests to write a review of your fine cuisine and make sure to write a review of Mom and Dad’s next creation.
4. “Character” Emails – invent a fun character with some quirky habits - Gizmo Goat, Brainy Bunny, and Tattletale Tiger. Write emails/notes to family and friends and sign off as your quirky character.
5. Partner Stories – write the first sentence or paragraph of a story idea, then ask a parent to write the next section. Take turns coming up with fun twists to the storyline. Try and throw some obstacles into each other’s paths to keep the story going as long as possible.
6. Scavenger Hunts –plan and write clues for a scavenger hunt. Then have some fun with friends and family enjoying the game.
7. Sidewalk Talk – using chalk on your sidewalk, patio, fence or even a large chalkboard, write and draw for fun, the end result looks great too!
8. 20 Questions – think of a famous person. The person guessing writes out each yes/no question to a maximum of 20. This can be done via email or notes.
9. Musical Performance – write new words for your favorite song and perform it for your family.
10. Trip Memory Book – keep a trip diary book with labeled pictures and captions of your vacation.
11. Comic Book – turn your family into cartoon characters and create an adventure on paper.
12. Instruction Pamphlet – write instructions for your Mom and Dad to explain how to use something they don’t understand – ex. Facebook, Twitter, DVD operation, MP3, video games.
13. Human GPS – help your parents map out your vacation this summer by being their human GPS, be sure mark places that you would like to stop at along the way.
14. Make an ideas jar - cut out slips of paper and write a word or two on each - purple/rough/sunny/loved. Get the children to pick three to five words and make up a story using them.
15. Write a Script – write and perform a puppet show, play or animation. This is something the whole family can do.
These are just some of the many ways to enjoy writing with your child over the summer. It’s a great time to be imaginative and create some lasting memories.
Source: http://www.calgaryschild.com/family-fun
Why are you making me do this? It’s not fair! No one else has to work over summer...attach any sort of “child labor” connotation and the battle begins. However, writing over the summer can be fun and provide all of you with some memorable moments.
Here are some suggestions to encourage your child to write in a fun and creative way that won’t be perceived as work:
1. Joke/Tongue Twister/Riddle Diary – record several each day to share in the car or just before bed.
2. Jigsaw Letter –with a picture on one side and a letter on the other; cut into pieces and mail to grandparents. It’s even better if grandparents reciprocate.
3. Menu Planning – plan your meal, write out recipes, ingredients/groceries, and send out invitations to family and friends. Ask your guests to write a review of your fine cuisine and make sure to write a review of Mom and Dad’s next creation.
4. “Character” Emails – invent a fun character with some quirky habits - Gizmo Goat, Brainy Bunny, and Tattletale Tiger. Write emails/notes to family and friends and sign off as your quirky character.
5. Partner Stories – write the first sentence or paragraph of a story idea, then ask a parent to write the next section. Take turns coming up with fun twists to the storyline. Try and throw some obstacles into each other’s paths to keep the story going as long as possible.
6. Scavenger Hunts –plan and write clues for a scavenger hunt. Then have some fun with friends and family enjoying the game.
7. Sidewalk Talk – using chalk on your sidewalk, patio, fence or even a large chalkboard, write and draw for fun, the end result looks great too!
8. 20 Questions – think of a famous person. The person guessing writes out each yes/no question to a maximum of 20. This can be done via email or notes.
9. Musical Performance – write new words for your favorite song and perform it for your family.
10. Trip Memory Book – keep a trip diary book with labeled pictures and captions of your vacation.
11. Comic Book – turn your family into cartoon characters and create an adventure on paper.
12. Instruction Pamphlet – write instructions for your Mom and Dad to explain how to use something they don’t understand – ex. Facebook, Twitter, DVD operation, MP3, video games.
13. Human GPS – help your parents map out your vacation this summer by being their human GPS, be sure mark places that you would like to stop at along the way.
14. Make an ideas jar - cut out slips of paper and write a word or two on each - purple/rough/sunny/loved. Get the children to pick three to five words and make up a story using them.
15. Write a Script – write and perform a puppet show, play or animation. This is something the whole family can do.
These are just some of the many ways to enjoy writing with your child over the summer. It’s a great time to be imaginative and create some lasting memories.
Source: http://www.calgaryschild.com/family-fun
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| 3. |
Boys and Summer Reading
by Jen Robinson
All of the tips that I proposed last week for encouraging summer reading apply to both boys and girls. However, there is widespread concern that boys aren't reading as much or as well as girls are. Studies by the U.S. Department of Education show that boys score worse than girls on reading at every age range. (See Guys Read.) As reported recently in the Huffington Post, "the 2010 Kid and Family Reading Report found that regardless of race, geography or socioeconomic status, boys were lagging far behind girls in reading outside of school assignments."
Many different studies validate the points that a) boys' reading scores are worse than girls' scores and b) boys spend less time reading than girls do. Of course "a" follows "b." You get good at something by doing it. If boys aren't reading, they don't have a chance to improve, and thus they find reading more frustrating and don't want to do it. And so the cycle continues.
Many people are working on the issue of boys and reading. Reading Rockets has offered resources specific to boys and books for years. Jon Scieszka, the former U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, founded an organization called Guys Read. The mission of Guys Read is "to motivate boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read.” Pam Allyn, the executive director of LitWorld, a nonprofit that promotes global literacy, recently published Pam Allyn's “Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives.”
These resources offer a number of potential reasons for the trouble that some boys have with reading, ranging from biology (boys develop reading skills more slowly, and don't like to sit still to read) to sociology (a lack of male role models for reading, and a perception that reading isn't cool). The point made in the above-referenced Huffington Post article is that part of the issue of boys not reading is one of perception. Although they may not be reading as much as girls are, boys ARE reading. They just aren't necessarily reading the books that their mothers and aunts and (primarily female) teachers want them to read. They're reading comic books, box scores, user manuals, joke books and various other forms of nonfiction.
I think that there's truth to this, but I also think that it's not good enough to broaden one's definition of reading and conclude that there isn't a problem. Boys' reading scores are still lagging - we need to make some extra effort to get them to spend more time reading. But I do think that accepting the different formats that boys choose as valid types of reading is part of the solution.
Here are a few specific tips for encouraging boys to read this summer:
- Be flexible about what you consider reading. Don't panic if the only reading your son does is the sports section and online news sites. His reading experience doesn't have to be the same as yours. Figure out what kinds of things he does read, and provide more of those.
- Find books and magazines that are about the subjects that your boys are interested in. Don't try to steer your 10-year-old who likes to build robots toward the Penderwicks. Instead, find some non-fiction about robots. If you run across a fictional story about robots taking over the world, and you think that your son might be intrigued, then offer it as a suggestion. But that's all. A suggestion. Librarians and booksellers can help you here, as can search functions at online bookselling sites (and the references listed below).
- Consider eBooks. If your son thinks that things presented onscreen are inherently more interesting than things presented offscreen, then give eBooks a try. These days, you can read books on dedicated readers, tablets and many cell phones. There's no reason to get hung up on the format of books. It's the experience of consuming words that matters. Of course, you probably don't want to encourage reading eBooks on a raft in the middle of the lake, but they are wonderful for trips, allowing you to bring along a much wider range of material than you might have otherwise.
- Consider reading competitions. If your boys tend to be competitive, a reading challenge might be just the ticket. Some summer reading programs highlight the people who read the most books. If you think that your son will respond to this, give it a try. One thing that I bet could really work well would be a competition between your son and one of his friends or male role models over who reads the most books (or magazines, or pages, or whatever).
- Get dads involved. One of the reasons that boys don't read as much is that they don't see male role models reading, and so they don't think that reading is something that guys do. If dads or other male role models can spend some extra time this summer talking about whatever it is that they might be reading, and asking their sons about what they are reading, this could go a long way.
- Embrace series books. There's some evidence (see http://www.readingrockets.org/article/23978) that boys like to collect things, and as a result are more receptive to series books. If your son is enthralled in a series, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, go with that. Don't struggle to get him to branch out and read other things. Let him dive as deeply as he wants into one particular series. He'll eventually exhaust it and can branch out after that.
Here are a few specific recommendations of authors and series to try:
- Bearport Publishing's various nonfiction series (Fast Rides, Animals with Super Powers, etc.)
- The Secrets series by Pseudonymous Bosch
- The Skeleton Creek and Trackers series by Patrick Carman (these are multi-platform series that involve websites in the reading experience)
- The Underland Chronicles series by Suzanne Collins
- The DK Readers series (lots of fiction and nonfiction titles)
- The Final Four Mystery series by John Feinstein
- The Squish series by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
- The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
- The Lunch Lady series by Jarrett Krosoczka
- The Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan
- The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
- The Frankie Pickle series by Eric Wight
Source: http://www.pbs.org
by Jen Robinson
All of the tips that I proposed last week for encouraging summer reading apply to both boys and girls. However, there is widespread concern that boys aren't reading as much or as well as girls are. Studies by the U.S. Department of Education show that boys score worse than girls on reading at every age range. (See Guys Read.) As reported recently in the Huffington Post, "the 2010 Kid and Family Reading Report found that regardless of race, geography or socioeconomic status, boys were lagging far behind girls in reading outside of school assignments."
Many different studies validate the points that a) boys' reading scores are worse than girls' scores and b) boys spend less time reading than girls do. Of course "a" follows "b." You get good at something by doing it. If boys aren't reading, they don't have a chance to improve, and thus they find reading more frustrating and don't want to do it. And so the cycle continues.
Many people are working on the issue of boys and reading. Reading Rockets has offered resources specific to boys and books for years. Jon Scieszka, the former U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, founded an organization called Guys Read. The mission of Guys Read is "to motivate boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read.” Pam Allyn, the executive director of LitWorld, a nonprofit that promotes global literacy, recently published Pam Allyn's “Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives.”
These resources offer a number of potential reasons for the trouble that some boys have with reading, ranging from biology (boys develop reading skills more slowly, and don't like to sit still to read) to sociology (a lack of male role models for reading, and a perception that reading isn't cool). The point made in the above-referenced Huffington Post article is that part of the issue of boys not reading is one of perception. Although they may not be reading as much as girls are, boys ARE reading. They just aren't necessarily reading the books that their mothers and aunts and (primarily female) teachers want them to read. They're reading comic books, box scores, user manuals, joke books and various other forms of nonfiction.
I think that there's truth to this, but I also think that it's not good enough to broaden one's definition of reading and conclude that there isn't a problem. Boys' reading scores are still lagging - we need to make some extra effort to get them to spend more time reading. But I do think that accepting the different formats that boys choose as valid types of reading is part of the solution.
Here are a few specific tips for encouraging boys to read this summer:
- Be flexible about what you consider reading. Don't panic if the only reading your son does is the sports section and online news sites. His reading experience doesn't have to be the same as yours. Figure out what kinds of things he does read, and provide more of those.
- Find books and magazines that are about the subjects that your boys are interested in. Don't try to steer your 10-year-old who likes to build robots toward the Penderwicks. Instead, find some non-fiction about robots. If you run across a fictional story about robots taking over the world, and you think that your son might be intrigued, then offer it as a suggestion. But that's all. A suggestion. Librarians and booksellers can help you here, as can search functions at online bookselling sites (and the references listed below).
- Consider eBooks. If your son thinks that things presented onscreen are inherently more interesting than things presented offscreen, then give eBooks a try. These days, you can read books on dedicated readers, tablets and many cell phones. There's no reason to get hung up on the format of books. It's the experience of consuming words that matters. Of course, you probably don't want to encourage reading eBooks on a raft in the middle of the lake, but they are wonderful for trips, allowing you to bring along a much wider range of material than you might have otherwise.
- Consider reading competitions. If your boys tend to be competitive, a reading challenge might be just the ticket. Some summer reading programs highlight the people who read the most books. If you think that your son will respond to this, give it a try. One thing that I bet could really work well would be a competition between your son and one of his friends or male role models over who reads the most books (or magazines, or pages, or whatever).
- Get dads involved. One of the reasons that boys don't read as much is that they don't see male role models reading, and so they don't think that reading is something that guys do. If dads or other male role models can spend some extra time this summer talking about whatever it is that they might be reading, and asking their sons about what they are reading, this could go a long way.
- Embrace series books. There's some evidence (see http://www.readingrockets.org/article/23978) that boys like to collect things, and as a result are more receptive to series books. If your son is enthralled in a series, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, go with that. Don't struggle to get him to branch out and read other things. Let him dive as deeply as he wants into one particular series. He'll eventually exhaust it and can branch out after that.
Here are a few specific recommendations of authors and series to try:
- Bearport Publishing's various nonfiction series (Fast Rides, Animals with Super Powers, etc.)
- The Secrets series by Pseudonymous Bosch
- The Skeleton Creek and Trackers series by Patrick Carman (these are multi-platform series that involve websites in the reading experience)
- The Underland Chronicles series by Suzanne Collins
- The DK Readers series (lots of fiction and nonfiction titles)
- The Final Four Mystery series by John Feinstein
- The Squish series by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm
- The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
- The Lunch Lady series by Jarrett Krosoczka
- The Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan
- The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
- The Frankie Pickle series by Eric Wight
Source: http://www.pbs.org
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| 4. |
Why We Should Take Play Seriously
Two four-year-old girls are standing in the corner of the playground, playing house. One gets to be the mom—she's thrilled; the other one is stuck being the baby. Wah. But then, accidentally, the "mom" scrapes her hand against the brick wall. Does she drop everything and start to cry?
Of course not! She's the mommy. And in her desire to keep playing the game—to keep having fun, to keep pretending to be an adult—she ignores the little sting and goes back to "making dinner." In other words, by pretending to hold it together, the little girl actually starts to hold it together.
Play is nature's way of getting kids to do the work of growing up. More and more, child development experts are turning their attention to free play—the kind that does not involve parents or coaches or anything with batteries. The new idea is that replacing free play time with extra academics or organized activities is not doing kids any favors. "Play looks like a waste of time because it's not 'goal directed,' and parents are," says Hara Marano, author of "A Nation of Wimps." After all, kids don't get extra credit for pretending to be a lion. They can't put "Played a ton of hide and seek" on a college essay. Nonetheless, play turns out to be a sort of kiddie supervitamin. It not only makes children happy, it also makes them more focused and, Marano argues, smarter. As she puts it: "Play builds brains."
Think about a group of kids that gets together and has to come up with something to do. At the very least, this demands creativity: they have to create a game. So they do—say, "Toy Baseball." Then they have to agree on how it's played: they will use a plastic dinosaur as their bat. That just involved communication, and—probably—compromise (if one kid wanted to use a Barbie).
Now think about a boy who strikes out and wails, "One more pitch!" "No!" yell the other kids. "It’s not your turn anymore!" And with that, the boy has a choice: he can have a tantrum and run off, or he can suck it up. Usually a kid wants to play more than anything, so, suck it up he does, and heads to the outfield. And with that he has just learned, literally, how to play by the rules.
Play is dress rehearsal for adulthood, and, before that, for school. Think how many times a teacher has to say, "Wait your turn!" to get a kid to stop blurting out in class. At play, kids get endless practice waiting their turn. Self-control gradually becomes second nature. Schools that cut short recess think they're adding "education time." But play is education time.
Play is so crucial that all mammals do it. "In play," says Peter Gray, a professor of psychology at Boston College, "young mammals practice the very skills that they must develop in order to make it into adulthood." Young predators practice pouncing on dead leaves. It's not "real" hunting, but it's making them limber and quick. Meanwhile, the prey animals are practicing how to get away from the pouncers. Squirrels' play looks like a whole lot of tag.
Why would Mother Nature program animals to frolic, even though it wastes valuable energy and puts them at danger? Wouldn't it be safer for them to just huddle close to home all day? How come they gambol out in the open? Because play is even more important that conserving energy or hiding at home. Our kids are animals too. They need to play to grow up. "I'm the mommy. I'll ignore the scrape and keep acting like the mommy."
Staying on task. Focusing. Creating. Cooperating. Communicating. Free play fosters almost all the traits we're dying for our kids to develop. And there’s even a perk: it's fun!
Source: http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopment/imaginative-play.html
Two four-year-old girls are standing in the corner of the playground, playing house. One gets to be the mom—she's thrilled; the other one is stuck being the baby. Wah. But then, accidentally, the "mom" scrapes her hand against the brick wall. Does she drop everything and start to cry?
Of course not! She's the mommy. And in her desire to keep playing the game—to keep having fun, to keep pretending to be an adult—she ignores the little sting and goes back to "making dinner." In other words, by pretending to hold it together, the little girl actually starts to hold it together.
Play is nature's way of getting kids to do the work of growing up. More and more, child development experts are turning their attention to free play—the kind that does not involve parents or coaches or anything with batteries. The new idea is that replacing free play time with extra academics or organized activities is not doing kids any favors. "Play looks like a waste of time because it's not 'goal directed,' and parents are," says Hara Marano, author of "A Nation of Wimps." After all, kids don't get extra credit for pretending to be a lion. They can't put "Played a ton of hide and seek" on a college essay. Nonetheless, play turns out to be a sort of kiddie supervitamin. It not only makes children happy, it also makes them more focused and, Marano argues, smarter. As she puts it: "Play builds brains."
Think about a group of kids that gets together and has to come up with something to do. At the very least, this demands creativity: they have to create a game. So they do—say, "Toy Baseball." Then they have to agree on how it's played: they will use a plastic dinosaur as their bat. That just involved communication, and—probably—compromise (if one kid wanted to use a Barbie).
Now think about a boy who strikes out and wails, "One more pitch!" "No!" yell the other kids. "It’s not your turn anymore!" And with that, the boy has a choice: he can have a tantrum and run off, or he can suck it up. Usually a kid wants to play more than anything, so, suck it up he does, and heads to the outfield. And with that he has just learned, literally, how to play by the rules.
Play is dress rehearsal for adulthood, and, before that, for school. Think how many times a teacher has to say, "Wait your turn!" to get a kid to stop blurting out in class. At play, kids get endless practice waiting their turn. Self-control gradually becomes second nature. Schools that cut short recess think they're adding "education time." But play is education time.
Play is so crucial that all mammals do it. "In play," says Peter Gray, a professor of psychology at Boston College, "young mammals practice the very skills that they must develop in order to make it into adulthood." Young predators practice pouncing on dead leaves. It's not "real" hunting, but it's making them limber and quick. Meanwhile, the prey animals are practicing how to get away from the pouncers. Squirrels' play looks like a whole lot of tag.
Why would Mother Nature program animals to frolic, even though it wastes valuable energy and puts them at danger? Wouldn't it be safer for them to just huddle close to home all day? How come they gambol out in the open? Because play is even more important that conserving energy or hiding at home. Our kids are animals too. They need to play to grow up. "I'm the mommy. I'll ignore the scrape and keep acting like the mommy."
Staying on task. Focusing. Creating. Cooperating. Communicating. Free play fosters almost all the traits we're dying for our kids to develop. And there’s even a perk: it's fun!
Source: http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopment/imaginative-play.html
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| 5. |
Tutor Doctor one-on-one in-home tutoring. Why Summer Reading Matters
By Zrinka Peters
It's finally summer, the great outdoors are calling, and sitting down with a book might be just about the last thing your child would choose to do. After all, doesn't that sound kind of like school?
Sure, summer reading does have a lot to do with learning. But that doesn't mean it has to be dull. Summer can be a great time to exercise not only the body but the mind as well. As Elizabeth Kennedy, expert contributor to About.com's Guide to Children's Books, says, "Any time you read, you tend to increase your vocabulary, knowledge, and understanding, even if your motivation for reading is fun."
A great resource for summer reading is your local library's summer reading programs. Many libraries have established programs which can provide extra incentives and guidance to kids for summer reading.
Nancy Smith, a librarian in Washington County, MN, says, "The goal is to keep kids reading through the summer, so they don't fall back." The summer reading program at Smith's library, like at many others, sets reading goals for young readers – challenging them to read (or be read to) 10, 20 or more hours over the summer. Along with goals, the library offers rewards. After completing 20 hours of reading, kids get their names posted on the library's "wall of fame." Readers' names are also entered in drawings for surprise prizes.
Many libraries also offer age-appropriate book clubs and story times for babies on up to teens. Attending story time can even be used as reading time that works towards the child's reading goal.
But wait – what about reading just for fun? Kennedy notes that "Summer also provides time for kids to enjoy purely recreational reading, with no pressure to read certain books or to pass follow-up tests, just a chance to discover the joy of reading for its own sake." Summer, with its hours of free time and slower pace, provides the perfect opportunity to read for pleasure instead of sticking to assigned books. It's a great time for kids to explore whatever they enjoy or interests them, through books. That makes summer reading a top way to prevent the notorious "summer slip" that puts so many kids behind when they return to school in September.
But what about the reluctant reader who can't be persuaded by simple rewards to pick up a book? As Kennedy points out, "Their continued participation is dependent on their being connected with books at the appropriate reading level on subjects that interest them." To this end, a children's or teen librarian can be an excellent resource when trying to locate interesting books that will appeal to your child. The librarian can also help with finding age-appropriate books that cover subjects your child has a particular interest in. Ladybugs anyone? Or maybe volcanoes?
Summer reading has the potential, maybe even more than during the school year, to turn a reluctant reader into a voracious one, if they take the opportunity to delve into subjects that they find fascinating. Make this a reading summer! Your kids – and their teachers – just might thank you.
Source: education.com
By Zrinka Peters
It's finally summer, the great outdoors are calling, and sitting down with a book might be just about the last thing your child would choose to do. After all, doesn't that sound kind of like school?
Sure, summer reading does have a lot to do with learning. But that doesn't mean it has to be dull. Summer can be a great time to exercise not only the body but the mind as well. As Elizabeth Kennedy, expert contributor to About.com's Guide to Children's Books, says, "Any time you read, you tend to increase your vocabulary, knowledge, and understanding, even if your motivation for reading is fun."
A great resource for summer reading is your local library's summer reading programs. Many libraries have established programs which can provide extra incentives and guidance to kids for summer reading.
Nancy Smith, a librarian in Washington County, MN, says, "The goal is to keep kids reading through the summer, so they don't fall back." The summer reading program at Smith's library, like at many others, sets reading goals for young readers – challenging them to read (or be read to) 10, 20 or more hours over the summer. Along with goals, the library offers rewards. After completing 20 hours of reading, kids get their names posted on the library's "wall of fame." Readers' names are also entered in drawings for surprise prizes.
Many libraries also offer age-appropriate book clubs and story times for babies on up to teens. Attending story time can even be used as reading time that works towards the child's reading goal.
But wait – what about reading just for fun? Kennedy notes that "Summer also provides time for kids to enjoy purely recreational reading, with no pressure to read certain books or to pass follow-up tests, just a chance to discover the joy of reading for its own sake." Summer, with its hours of free time and slower pace, provides the perfect opportunity to read for pleasure instead of sticking to assigned books. It's a great time for kids to explore whatever they enjoy or interests them, through books. That makes summer reading a top way to prevent the notorious "summer slip" that puts so many kids behind when they return to school in September.
But what about the reluctant reader who can't be persuaded by simple rewards to pick up a book? As Kennedy points out, "Their continued participation is dependent on their being connected with books at the appropriate reading level on subjects that interest them." To this end, a children's or teen librarian can be an excellent resource when trying to locate interesting books that will appeal to your child. The librarian can also help with finding age-appropriate books that cover subjects your child has a particular interest in. Ladybugs anyone? Or maybe volcanoes?
Summer reading has the potential, maybe even more than during the school year, to turn a reluctant reader into a voracious one, if they take the opportunity to delve into subjects that they find fascinating. Make this a reading summer! Your kids – and their teachers – just might thank you.
Source: education.com
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| 6. |
Tutors for all ages. When The Letter Arrives: What To Do About College Decisions
p>It's that time of year when letters are coming back from colleges—some of them thick and some thin. The contents of that letter can seem like a life-altering verdict to your teen. But whether your child is accepted, waitlisted or denied from college, there are ways to prepare for the future. Katherine Cohen, PhD, is well-versed in creating these plans of action. She's the founder of two college counseling programs, ApplyWise and IvyWise, and the author of The Truth About Getting In.
Once those decisions letters come in, she says, your teen will have to make some tough choices. What can you do to help? For each possible scenario, Cohen offers this advice for parents:
If your teen is waitlisted...
- Make sure your dream school is still your first choice. Is it possible that a college lower on your list moves to your top choice when you are accepted? Remember, you can change your mind at any time. Make sure you send a deposit to your second choice school to guarantee that you’ll have a place to go to college this fall.
- If you are sure that you are still interested in your waitlisted school:
- Write a letter to the admissions office. Be upbeat in your approach. If the college remains your first choice, write that if you get in, you will be enthusiastic to attend and send your deposit.
- In the letter, have a paragraph explaining how you see yourself at this school. Include the courses you would like to pursue, the professors you want to study/research with, and the activities you would participate in. Show how you would enhance the campus community.
- Be sure to update the college on everything important you have been doing in school and in the community since you submitted your application. Tell the college of any honors, awards, or new standardized test scores that you have received.
- Be patient and wait. Schools may go to the waitlist as early as late April, or as late as July. In the meantime, be excited about the college that you’ll be attending. Remember, there are many schools that meet your needs.
If your teen is denied...
First of all, help your child realize that being denied is not a personal reflection of their value or worth. Once you’ve helped your child understand this, then the following step are recommended:
- Your child should have a conversation with his high school college counselor. The counselor can help assess what next steps are available.
- Only with the guidance counselor’s support, have your child call the admissions office. Your child can ask about what was weak in his or her application or how feasible it is to reapply.
- Research other programs. Some colleges may have spots available for the fall. Other colleges may have spots in the spring semester. There might be a gap year program that could enhance your application should you decide to reapply. Or, you can enroll in your second choice school and then submit a transfer application to your first choice school next year.
- Parents- do not call the admissions office to appeal a decision. Admissions committees spend a lot of time deliberating your child’s application. Admissions officers are there to communicate directly with applicants and guidance counselors. Remember, your child, not you, applied to college.
If your teen winds up with a choice of schools...
To make their final decision, collect all relevant information to make sure that you are making fair comparisons. For example, you need to compare:
- Financial Aid awards- they may change over four years so meet with a financial aid officer and ask questions
- Academic offerings, even in programs that you may not be interested in. Chances are you may change your major, so can your college offer you opportunities that may be of interest to you in the future
- Unique opportunities- explore what makes one campus different from another: How are the resources on campus? How is the academic advising? Career counseling? Alumni network?
- Campus culture—do you feel that you can be part of that student body?
- Surrounding community- you’ll be living there for four years, so explore resources off campus. Everything from restaurants, movie theaters, places to work or do community service
- Location- campuses are always pretty in April. Do you like the weather in January? Also, how far do you want to be away from home?
Once your child has done the research, then ask her to follow his or her gut. Your child needs to imagine herself there for the next four years. Hopefully, your child knows a lot about her colleges at this point. Parents should provide advice when asked. Do not steer your child toward your favorite school or your alma mater. You won’t be attending the college, your child will!
No matter what the options, the college decision process is an emotionally stressful time for your teen. Cohen says teens should be reminded that they can be happy and successful at many colleges. "There is not only ONE college match for your child. Besides, college is what you make of the experience,” she says. Besides, reacting to setbacks (and moving on) is part of becoming an adult. And when your child sets out on her own path next year, that's exactly what she'll be.
Source: education.com
p>It's that time of year when letters are coming back from colleges—some of them thick and some thin. The contents of that letter can seem like a life-altering verdict to your teen. But whether your child is accepted, waitlisted or denied from college, there are ways to prepare for the future. Katherine Cohen, PhD, is well-versed in creating these plans of action. She's the founder of two college counseling programs, ApplyWise and IvyWise, and the author of The Truth About Getting In.
Once those decisions letters come in, she says, your teen will have to make some tough choices. What can you do to help? For each possible scenario, Cohen offers this advice for parents:
If your teen is waitlisted...
- Make sure your dream school is still your first choice. Is it possible that a college lower on your list moves to your top choice when you are accepted? Remember, you can change your mind at any time. Make sure you send a deposit to your second choice school to guarantee that you’ll have a place to go to college this fall.
- If you are sure that you are still interested in your waitlisted school:
- Write a letter to the admissions office. Be upbeat in your approach. If the college remains your first choice, write that if you get in, you will be enthusiastic to attend and send your deposit.
- In the letter, have a paragraph explaining how you see yourself at this school. Include the courses you would like to pursue, the professors you want to study/research with, and the activities you would participate in. Show how you would enhance the campus community.
- Be sure to update the college on everything important you have been doing in school and in the community since you submitted your application. Tell the college of any honors, awards, or new standardized test scores that you have received.
- Be patient and wait. Schools may go to the waitlist as early as late April, or as late as July. In the meantime, be excited about the college that you’ll be attending. Remember, there are many schools that meet your needs.
If your teen is denied...
First of all, help your child realize that being denied is not a personal reflection of their value or worth. Once you’ve helped your child understand this, then the following step are recommended:
- Your child should have a conversation with his high school college counselor. The counselor can help assess what next steps are available.
- Only with the guidance counselor’s support, have your child call the admissions office. Your child can ask about what was weak in his or her application or how feasible it is to reapply.
- Research other programs. Some colleges may have spots available for the fall. Other colleges may have spots in the spring semester. There might be a gap year program that could enhance your application should you decide to reapply. Or, you can enroll in your second choice school and then submit a transfer application to your first choice school next year.
- Parents- do not call the admissions office to appeal a decision. Admissions committees spend a lot of time deliberating your child’s application. Admissions officers are there to communicate directly with applicants and guidance counselors. Remember, your child, not you, applied to college.
If your teen winds up with a choice of schools...
To make their final decision, collect all relevant information to make sure that you are making fair comparisons. For example, you need to compare:
- Financial Aid awards- they may change over four years so meet with a financial aid officer and ask questions
- Academic offerings, even in programs that you may not be interested in. Chances are you may change your major, so can your college offer you opportunities that may be of interest to you in the future
- Unique opportunities- explore what makes one campus different from another: How are the resources on campus? How is the academic advising? Career counseling? Alumni network?
- Campus culture—do you feel that you can be part of that student body?
- Surrounding community- you’ll be living there for four years, so explore resources off campus. Everything from restaurants, movie theaters, places to work or do community service
- Location- campuses are always pretty in April. Do you like the weather in January? Also, how far do you want to be away from home?
Once your child has done the research, then ask her to follow his or her gut. Your child needs to imagine herself there for the next four years. Hopefully, your child knows a lot about her colleges at this point. Parents should provide advice when asked. Do not steer your child toward your favorite school or your alma mater. You won’t be attending the college, your child will!
No matter what the options, the college decision process is an emotionally stressful time for your teen. Cohen says teens should be reminded that they can be happy and successful at many colleges. "There is not only ONE college match for your child. Besides, college is what you make of the experience,” she says. Besides, reacting to setbacks (and moving on) is part of becoming an adult. And when your child sets out on her own path next year, that's exactly what she'll be.
Source: education.com
|
| 7. |
8 kid entrepreneurs to watch
Leanna Archer
Company: Leanna's Inc.
Age: 15
Website: leannashair.com
Running a successful small business is hard. But these eight kid entrepreneurs are showing that it's just child's play.
Leanna Archer decided she wanted to become a hair care mogul at the ripe old age of 11.
''The idea came to me when I received tons of compliments about my hair and I knew it was thanks to my homemade products,'' said Archer. ''I had nothing to lose, because I figured that if it didn't work out I still had my whole life ahead of me.''
Archer's company, Leanna's Inc., makes eight organic, hair products, which include hair dressings, hair butters and shampoos. Her secret formulas have been passed down through her family for generations and are free of sodium lauryl sulfate and parabens, chemicals which are considered health risks. `'Our products contains no oil filters, no synthetic ingredients, no chemically-engineered ingredients,'' she said.
Last year, the company had revenues of more than $100,000. The Long Island entrepreneur expects that number to increase to more than $300,000 by year-end. She is in the process of building an army of sales representatives across the United States.
Robert Nay
Company: Nay Games
Age: 14
Website: naygames.com
At age 14, Robert Nay's first game, Bubble Ball, was downloaded more than two million times within two weeks of its launch.
Not bad considering that the average mobile game receives a few hundred downloads.In January, the game knocked the monster hit ''Angry Birds'' out of the number 1 most downloaded free game spot in the Apple app store.
''My friends suggested I try making an iPhone app, and I thought it would be really cool and decided to give it a try,'' said Nay. Without any previous coding experience, Nay went to the public library to research how he could go about building his game.
''I came up with the idea for the game by myself, but it was influenced by other games I liked and suggestions from people.''
One month later, after reading a few books and producing over 4,000 individual lines of code, Bubble Ball was complete. The total cost to produce the app: $1,200 -- a sum given to Nay by his parents to purchase a new Macbook and the proper software licenses.
Available on Apple and Android devices, the puzzle game has been downloaded more than seven million times to date.
The eighth grader's new mobile game development company, Utah-based Nay Games, is now working on ''some awesome new stuff for Bubble Ball,'' as well as other gaming projects.
His advice to young people: ''You can do amazing things if you just try.''
Mark Bao
Company: Supportbreeze
Age: 18
Website: supportbreeze.com
At 18 years old, New Yorker Mark Bao is a successful serial technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. The teen prodigy has sold three web companies, two of which Bao states were ''highly profitable.''
One garnered a quarter of a million subscribed users within three weeks of its launch. Bao has also started two nonprofit foundations.
His past ventures, all self-funded, included the viral hit, threewords.me, a social media site where visitors describe their friends' personalities in three words, Atomplan, a small business management tool, and Facebook Idol, an ''American Idol''-like competition app.
''I've always been interested in technology and how it can make a difference,'' said Bao. ''Entrepreneurial action creates change.''
His newest self-funded startup, Supportbreeze, is a customer service platform that helps businesses manage their support inquiries. The service dramatically cuts down on response time and manpower, said Bao.
''I needed a really good customer service application for my other startups, which led to the creation of Supportbreeze,'' he said.
These days, Bao can be found splitting his time between building up Supportbreeze, attending college classes, and assisting his pals at the New York City startup, Onswipe, a tablet publishing platform that enables content publishers to beautifully display their media and advertising on touch devices without any programming knowledge.
''When you're young, don't fear failing,'' he said. ''Whether you succeed or fail, the things you learn will be incredibly valuable for your future endeavors.''
Lizzie Marie Likness
Company: Lizzie Marie Cuisine
Age: 11
Website: lizziemariecuisine.com
An aspiring chef since age 2, Lizzie Marie Likness is well on her way to becoming the next generation's Rachael Ray.
At age 6, Lizzie Marie Likness yearned to take horseback riding lessons. She wanted them so badly that she offered to help foot part of the bill.
When her parents asked where she would get the money, she replied,''I'll sell healthy homemade baked goods at the local farmer's market.'' From that moment on, Lizzie became the founder of Lizzie Marie Cuisine.
''Lizzie Marie Cuisine is unique because I teach kids how to have fun cooking healthy meals and how to live healthy,'' said Likness. "My company teaches people that it's not all about eating healthy, it's also about living healthy.''
A few short years later, word about her original recipes and ability to empower young people had spread beyond her local community. She soon began receiving invitations to demonstrate her cooking prowess alongside celebrity chefs at major live events, such as Taste of Atlanta.
She also was asked to become a spokesperson for the American Heart Association's ''Go Red For Women,'' campaign, and the Atlanta Falcons's ''First Down For Fitness Program.'' She also has appeared as a guest on the ''Rachael Ray Show.''
Today, Likness is the star of the WebMD Fit Channel's series, ''Healthy Cooking with Lizzie.'' She also just signed a branded entertainment and TV development deal with N.Y.-based production company, DBG, and global digital marketing agency, Digitas.
The mini-preneur, who hails from Georgia, expects to launch a series of healthy cooking cookbooks, packaged food products, and new digital media shows in the near future.
Her best advice: ''The greatest reward is doing what you love for the good of others.''
See the others - Click HERE
Source: Money.cnn.com
Leanna Archer
Company: Leanna's Inc.
Age: 15
Website: leannashair.com
Running a successful small business is hard. But these eight kid entrepreneurs are showing that it's just child's play.
Leanna Archer decided she wanted to become a hair care mogul at the ripe old age of 11.
''The idea came to me when I received tons of compliments about my hair and I knew it was thanks to my homemade products,'' said Archer. ''I had nothing to lose, because I figured that if it didn't work out I still had my whole life ahead of me.''
Archer's company, Leanna's Inc., makes eight organic, hair products, which include hair dressings, hair butters and shampoos. Her secret formulas have been passed down through her family for generations and are free of sodium lauryl sulfate and parabens, chemicals which are considered health risks. `'Our products contains no oil filters, no synthetic ingredients, no chemically-engineered ingredients,'' she said.
Last year, the company had revenues of more than $100,000. The Long Island entrepreneur expects that number to increase to more than $300,000 by year-end. She is in the process of building an army of sales representatives across the United States.
Robert Nay
Company: Nay Games
Age: 14
Website: naygames.com
At age 14, Robert Nay's first game, Bubble Ball, was downloaded more than two million times within two weeks of its launch.
Not bad considering that the average mobile game receives a few hundred downloads.In January, the game knocked the monster hit ''Angry Birds'' out of the number 1 most downloaded free game spot in the Apple app store.
''My friends suggested I try making an iPhone app, and I thought it would be really cool and decided to give it a try,'' said Nay. Without any previous coding experience, Nay went to the public library to research how he could go about building his game.
''I came up with the idea for the game by myself, but it was influenced by other games I liked and suggestions from people.''
One month later, after reading a few books and producing over 4,000 individual lines of code, Bubble Ball was complete. The total cost to produce the app: $1,200 -- a sum given to Nay by his parents to purchase a new Macbook and the proper software licenses.
Available on Apple and Android devices, the puzzle game has been downloaded more than seven million times to date.
The eighth grader's new mobile game development company, Utah-based Nay Games, is now working on ''some awesome new stuff for Bubble Ball,'' as well as other gaming projects.
His advice to young people: ''You can do amazing things if you just try.''
Mark Bao
Company: Supportbreeze
Age: 18
Website: supportbreeze.com
At 18 years old, New Yorker Mark Bao is a successful serial technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. The teen prodigy has sold three web companies, two of which Bao states were ''highly profitable.''
One garnered a quarter of a million subscribed users within three weeks of its launch. Bao has also started two nonprofit foundations.
His past ventures, all self-funded, included the viral hit, threewords.me, a social media site where visitors describe their friends' personalities in three words, Atomplan, a small business management tool, and Facebook Idol, an ''American Idol''-like competition app.
''I've always been interested in technology and how it can make a difference,'' said Bao. ''Entrepreneurial action creates change.''
His newest self-funded startup, Supportbreeze, is a customer service platform that helps businesses manage their support inquiries. The service dramatically cuts down on response time and manpower, said Bao.
''I needed a really good customer service application for my other startups, which led to the creation of Supportbreeze,'' he said.
These days, Bao can be found splitting his time between building up Supportbreeze, attending college classes, and assisting his pals at the New York City startup, Onswipe, a tablet publishing platform that enables content publishers to beautifully display their media and advertising on touch devices without any programming knowledge.
''When you're young, don't fear failing,'' he said. ''Whether you succeed or fail, the things you learn will be incredibly valuable for your future endeavors.''
Lizzie Marie Likness
Company: Lizzie Marie Cuisine
Age: 11
Website: lizziemariecuisine.com
An aspiring chef since age 2, Lizzie Marie Likness is well on her way to becoming the next generation's Rachael Ray.
At age 6, Lizzie Marie Likness yearned to take horseback riding lessons. She wanted them so badly that she offered to help foot part of the bill.
When her parents asked where she would get the money, she replied,''I'll sell healthy homemade baked goods at the local farmer's market.'' From that moment on, Lizzie became the founder of Lizzie Marie Cuisine.
''Lizzie Marie Cuisine is unique because I teach kids how to have fun cooking healthy meals and how to live healthy,'' said Likness. "My company teaches people that it's not all about eating healthy, it's also about living healthy.''
A few short years later, word about her original recipes and ability to empower young people had spread beyond her local community. She soon began receiving invitations to demonstrate her cooking prowess alongside celebrity chefs at major live events, such as Taste of Atlanta.
She also was asked to become a spokesperson for the American Heart Association's ''Go Red For Women,'' campaign, and the Atlanta Falcons's ''First Down For Fitness Program.'' She also has appeared as a guest on the ''Rachael Ray Show.''
Today, Likness is the star of the WebMD Fit Channel's series, ''Healthy Cooking with Lizzie.'' She also just signed a branded entertainment and TV development deal with N.Y.-based production company, DBG, and global digital marketing agency, Digitas.
The mini-preneur, who hails from Georgia, expects to launch a series of healthy cooking cookbooks, packaged food products, and new digital media shows in the near future.
Her best advice: ''The greatest reward is doing what you love for the good of others.''
See the others - Click HERE
Source: Money.cnn.com
|
| 8. |
Should U.S. high schools require students speak English to graduate?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There's new requirement for earning a high school diploma at one high school in Connecticut. It's not calculus or biochemistry or learning a foreign language even. It's learning this country's language, English.
The city of New London's board of education has approved a measure stating that, starting with next year's incoming freshman class, students will have to prove they can speak, read and write "American English" - and do it well - in order to earn their diploma. Apparently those are skills many high schoolers in New London lack. Only 16 percent of sophomores at New London High School scored well in English on standardized tests last year, and only 55 percent were deemed "proficient."
The New London student body is made up of immigrants from at least 28 countries. It's an indication how much of a challenge English is in the town that the school district website is translated into 52 languages.
New London is the first district in the state of Connecticut to pass such a rule. Students at New London High will have several testing options to demonstrate their command of English, and will have until age 21 to meet the requirement.
Here’s my question to you: Should U.S. high schools require students to speak English in order to graduate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Jamie in St. Louis, Missouri:
If it's the school's job to best prepare someone to go out into the world with the skills to survive on their own then of course they should. The question seems a little absurd. Liberals can call it racist or bigoted or whatever but you aren't doing anyone any favors by sending them out into the work force in a country that is predominately monolingual. If they're going to have any chance at a decent paying job they're going to have to learn English eventually. Why not in high school?
Daniel in Groveland, California:
Unless we changed the official language of the U.S., yes. Why is this up for debate?
Gigi in Oregon:
No. It should be a part of the requirements to take English, but if the student can pass all requirements in their language, they should receive their diploma. Because we in the states are lazy about learning a second or multiple languages should not punish a student of another language.
Jeff:
Emphatically yes! My mother came to this country from Germany at age 4 and entered kindergarten at age 5. To this day she still finds it hard to discuss growing up and having to learn English pretty quickly or suffer the consequences. She practically cries when she reads things like we should be teaching dual English-Spanish or that we need to cater to a specific ethnic group. English is the language of America.
Steve in Virginia:
Whatever language the student can clearly communicate that they have achieved and satisfied the level of learning set forth by a particular educational institution. Education is education. The means by which one communicates should be secondary as long as the level of education can be demonstrated.
Jon in Lima, Ohio:
Well it seems to me that English is a required subject. I think four years of it are required to graduate from just about every school, so I don't get the point of the question. To me, it's like asking if a person should know how to swim to get a lifeguard certificate.
M.D.:
Isn't that asking too much? Next they will want students to be able to spell, learn geography and be able to write a thank you card.
Source: www.caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There's new requirement for earning a high school diploma at one high school in Connecticut. It's not calculus or biochemistry or learning a foreign language even. It's learning this country's language, English.
The city of New London's board of education has approved a measure stating that, starting with next year's incoming freshman class, students will have to prove they can speak, read and write "American English" - and do it well - in order to earn their diploma. Apparently those are skills many high schoolers in New London lack. Only 16 percent of sophomores at New London High School scored well in English on standardized tests last year, and only 55 percent were deemed "proficient."
The New London student body is made up of immigrants from at least 28 countries. It's an indication how much of a challenge English is in the town that the school district website is translated into 52 languages.
New London is the first district in the state of Connecticut to pass such a rule. Students at New London High will have several testing options to demonstrate their command of English, and will have until age 21 to meet the requirement.
Here’s my question to you: Should U.S. high schools require students to speak English in order to graduate?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Jamie in St. Louis, Missouri:
If it's the school's job to best prepare someone to go out into the world with the skills to survive on their own then of course they should. The question seems a little absurd. Liberals can call it racist or bigoted or whatever but you aren't doing anyone any favors by sending them out into the work force in a country that is predominately monolingual. If they're going to have any chance at a decent paying job they're going to have to learn English eventually. Why not in high school?
Daniel in Groveland, California:
Unless we changed the official language of the U.S., yes. Why is this up for debate?
Gigi in Oregon:
No. It should be a part of the requirements to take English, but if the student can pass all requirements in their language, they should receive their diploma. Because we in the states are lazy about learning a second or multiple languages should not punish a student of another language.
Jeff:
Emphatically yes! My mother came to this country from Germany at age 4 and entered kindergarten at age 5. To this day she still finds it hard to discuss growing up and having to learn English pretty quickly or suffer the consequences. She practically cries when she reads things like we should be teaching dual English-Spanish or that we need to cater to a specific ethnic group. English is the language of America.
Steve in Virginia:
Whatever language the student can clearly communicate that they have achieved and satisfied the level of learning set forth by a particular educational institution. Education is education. The means by which one communicates should be secondary as long as the level of education can be demonstrated.
Jon in Lima, Ohio:
Well it seems to me that English is a required subject. I think four years of it are required to graduate from just about every school, so I don't get the point of the question. To me, it's like asking if a person should know how to swim to get a lifeguard certificate.
M.D.:
Isn't that asking too much? Next they will want students to be able to spell, learn geography and be able to write a thank you card.
Source: www.caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com
|
| 9. |
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| 10. |
How to Handle Dawdling
Effective solutions for this common behavior problem among school-age children
By Katherine Lee
One of the most frustrating but common child behavior problems is dawdling. Some children may be more naturally inclined to dawdle more than others; but most parents know the exasperating feeling of having a child continue to play or engage in another activity and seemingly ignore something they repeatedly asked her to do.
The good news is that there are ways you can manage this irritating behavior and help your child learn to move things along. Here’s how:
-
Understand why kids dawdle.
What may seem like a child ignoring your requests to, say, put away his toys or wash his hands for dinner is most likely a result of his being focused on an activity. This inability to transition from one activity to another easily is very common among young children, who lack the self-regulation and discipline to leave something they are engrossed in and go on to something else.
Dawdling may also be the result of personality. Some kids are naturally more inclined to daydream, and may be easily distracted by something else while, say, brushing her teeth or cleaning her room.
-
Consider what changes may account for her behavior.
Is there a new sibling in the family? Did your child recently start school? Sometimes, a change in family routines may be a cause for a change in a child’s behavior. For instance, a child may have been excited about a new sibling or starting school, only to suddenly realize that he is not completely happy about the changes. Think about what could be causing the dawdling, which could be your child’s way of expressing a reluctance or unhappiness about something new or different.
-
Get down to her level.
Do you ask your child to get her things together for school while you are occupied with something else? If you see that your child is not responding after repeated requests to get ready, stop what you are doing. Get down to her level and talk to her face-to-face about what she is not doing correctly and what you expect from her.
-
Keep your cool.
It can be terribly frustrating to see your child still playing with his toys on the floor after the umpteenth reminder to put on his jacket. But yelling or using a harsh tone to express your frustration may only get him to move faster for that one occasion. Moreover, you will be able to express yourself more clearly and your child will be able to hear you better if you are speaking in a calm manner. A better strategy that will lead to a longer-term solution is to stay calm, get his attention, and firmly remind him that you have repeated your request several times and you expect him to do as you ask without reminders in the future.
-
Explain the consequences of dawdling.
Tell her in clear detail what happens if you do not stick to a schedule. For example, explain that if she is not dressed in time to leave for school, you will arrive late. That will mean she misses hello time with her teacher and friends, and may miss a chance to hear an interesting story or other morning activity. If she doesn’t clean up her toys in the evening in a timely manner, she will have less time for reading her favorite story with you at bedtime.
-
Allow some extra time.
Until your child works through this phase of development, set aside some extra time in the mornings or evenings, or when dawdling is most problematic. Set the alarm a bit earlier or begin toy clean up earlier to plan for delays.
-
Look at it as a work in progress. Don’t expect the dawdling problem to go away immediately. Your 5-year-old child will need several repeated reminders about moving things along before he gets the hang of it. And remember: as your child gets older, he will naturally grow out of dawdling. Until then, be supportive, patient, and understanding.
Source: http://childparenting.about.com/od/familyhome/a/How-To-Handle-Dawdling.htm
Effective solutions for this common behavior problem among school-age children
By Katherine Lee
One of the most frustrating but common child behavior problems is dawdling. Some children may be more naturally inclined to dawdle more than others; but most parents know the exasperating feeling of having a child continue to play or engage in another activity and seemingly ignore something they repeatedly asked her to do.
The good news is that there are ways you can manage this irritating behavior and help your child learn to move things along. Here’s how:
-
Understand why kids dawdle.
What may seem like a child ignoring your requests to, say, put away his toys or wash his hands for dinner is most likely a result of his being focused on an activity. This inability to transition from one activity to another easily is very common among young children, who lack the self-regulation and discipline to leave something they are engrossed in and go on to something else.
Dawdling may also be the result of personality. Some kids are naturally more inclined to daydream, and may be easily distracted by something else while, say, brushing her teeth or cleaning her room.
-
Consider what changes may account for her behavior.
Is there a new sibling in the family? Did your child recently start school? Sometimes, a change in family routines may be a cause for a change in a child’s behavior. For instance, a child may have been excited about a new sibling or starting school, only to suddenly realize that he is not completely happy about the changes. Think about what could be causing the dawdling, which could be your child’s way of expressing a reluctance or unhappiness about something new or different.
-
Get down to her level.
Do you ask your child to get her things together for school while you are occupied with something else? If you see that your child is not responding after repeated requests to get ready, stop what you are doing. Get down to her level and talk to her face-to-face about what she is not doing correctly and what you expect from her.
-
Keep your cool.
It can be terribly frustrating to see your child still playing with his toys on the floor after the umpteenth reminder to put on his jacket. But yelling or using a harsh tone to express your frustration may only get him to move faster for that one occasion. Moreover, you will be able to express yourself more clearly and your child will be able to hear you better if you are speaking in a calm manner. A better strategy that will lead to a longer-term solution is to stay calm, get his attention, and firmly remind him that you have repeated your request several times and you expect him to do as you ask without reminders in the future.
-
Explain the consequences of dawdling.
Tell her in clear detail what happens if you do not stick to a schedule. For example, explain that if she is not dressed in time to leave for school, you will arrive late. That will mean she misses hello time with her teacher and friends, and may miss a chance to hear an interesting story or other morning activity. If she doesn’t clean up her toys in the evening in a timely manner, she will have less time for reading her favorite story with you at bedtime.
-
Allow some extra time.
Until your child works through this phase of development, set aside some extra time in the mornings or evenings, or when dawdling is most problematic. Set the alarm a bit earlier or begin toy clean up earlier to plan for delays.
-
Look at it as a work in progress. Don’t expect the dawdling problem to go away immediately. Your 5-year-old child will need several repeated reminders about moving things along before he gets the hang of it. And remember: as your child gets older, he will naturally grow out of dawdling. Until then, be supportive, patient, and understanding.
Source: http://childparenting.about.com/od/familyhome/a/How-To-Handle-Dawdling.htm
|
| 11. |
The Role of Child Care Centers in the Modern World
By Rowann Imms
The importance of early childhood education in today's world is crucial. With so much gang violence, limited child care centers, latch key kids, and even divorce playing a factor, is there any hope at all that the future of our world will change for the better?
It always has been said education starts at home. Children learn by example in child care centres. Many of today's parents have poor literacy and math skills without completing high school and simply do not have the skills to educate and teach their children.
It can be up to child care centers to step in and make sure that early childhood education is covered. When a child is dropped off at daycare center, it is not supposed to be just a babysitting service it is a place where children can learn and grow through an array of experiences that help them develop mentally and emotionally.
Things for parents to think about:
Focus on each child's needs. What are their special gifts? Does one love to read and show a hunger to learn more? What if one child is lagging behind? Who in the child care center is giving that extra attention to show the child how to catch up?
If the child is actually enrolled in a child care center, the parents need to do their homework. There are paid preschools versus public preschools. But, money doesn't always buy an education. Parents need to do background checks, ask questions with the teachers and staff. See how your child relates with the teachers. When you walk into the preschool unannounced, is it quiet or are kids screaming out of control? Make sure there are not too many children to teach with one teacher being overloaded. This is quite common in a preschool.
It is important for parents to stop and discuss with their child what they learnt that day and keep the learning going at home. A child can always teach a parent something they never knew before.
A child care center is a real home away from home. Sometimes the children spend more time there than at home. So, preschools and child care centres need to focus on a new generation that will be taking over this world in the next twenty years. They are the ones that will help shape the future of many countries, not just the parents. The parents and the schools must start working together. With caring, love, and kindness, education can be a beautiful thing learned that will last a lifetime.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Role-of-Child-Care-Centres-in-the-Modern-World&id=5901992
By Rowann Imms
The importance of early childhood education in today's world is crucial. With so much gang violence, limited child care centers, latch key kids, and even divorce playing a factor, is there any hope at all that the future of our world will change for the better?
It always has been said education starts at home. Children learn by example in child care centres. Many of today's parents have poor literacy and math skills without completing high school and simply do not have the skills to educate and teach their children.
It can be up to child care centers to step in and make sure that early childhood education is covered. When a child is dropped off at daycare center, it is not supposed to be just a babysitting service it is a place where children can learn and grow through an array of experiences that help them develop mentally and emotionally.
Things for parents to think about:
Focus on each child's needs. What are their special gifts? Does one love to read and show a hunger to learn more? What if one child is lagging behind? Who in the child care center is giving that extra attention to show the child how to catch up?
If the child is actually enrolled in a child care center, the parents need to do their homework. There are paid preschools versus public preschools. But, money doesn't always buy an education. Parents need to do background checks, ask questions with the teachers and staff. See how your child relates with the teachers. When you walk into the preschool unannounced, is it quiet or are kids screaming out of control? Make sure there are not too many children to teach with one teacher being overloaded. This is quite common in a preschool.
It is important for parents to stop and discuss with their child what they learnt that day and keep the learning going at home. A child can always teach a parent something they never knew before.
A child care center is a real home away from home. Sometimes the children spend more time there than at home. So, preschools and child care centres need to focus on a new generation that will be taking over this world in the next twenty years. They are the ones that will help shape the future of many countries, not just the parents. The parents and the schools must start working together. With caring, love, and kindness, education can be a beautiful thing learned that will last a lifetime.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Role-of-Child-Care-Centres-in-the-Modern-World&id=5901992
|
| 12. |
How To Encourage Your Child to Read
By Elizabeth Kennedy
How can you encourage your child, whether a beginning reader or a reluctant reader, to read children's books on a regular basis? Here are some ideas that may help.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Ongoing
Here's How:
- Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old.
- When your child is able to, have her read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example.
- Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books.
- Be aware of your child's interests and direct your child to related books.
- Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading.
- Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home.
- Discuss books with your child.
- Buy books for your child that are related to her special interests.
- If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high interest level, low vocabulary).
- Talk to your child's teacher and ask for suggestions.
- If your child likes incentives and the computer, enroll in an online book group.
- If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books she might enjoy.
- Children also often enjoy the opportunity to read children's magazines.
Tips:
- Stay on the side of encouraging rather than nagging if you want your child to read. Nothing puts a child off faster than feeling forced to do something, so be careful.
- I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading to your child daily. Make it a priority.
- Be consistent with reading aloud, trips to the library and other encouragement.
- If your child is in middle school, read Middle School, Reading and Tweens: Motivate Your Preteen to Read by Jennifer O'Donnell, the About.com Tweens Guide..
What You Need
Source: http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/forparents/ht/encourageread.htm
By Elizabeth Kennedy
How can you encourage your child, whether a beginning reader or a reluctant reader, to read children's books on a regular basis? Here are some ideas that may help.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Ongoing
Here's How:
- Make a habit of reading to your child every day, whether she is a one-year-old or a 10-year-old.
- When your child is able to, have her read to you. You can take turns reading chapters in a simple chapter book, for example.
- Get a library card for your child. Go to the library every week and take out several books.
- Be aware of your child's interests and direct your child to related books.
- Try to find a series that she really likes and will want to continue reading.
- Provide a comfortable reading area, with good lighting, in your home.
- Discuss books with your child.
- Buy books for your child that are related to her special interests.
- If your child is a reluctant reader and not reading on grade level, buy her hi/lo books (books with a high interest level, low vocabulary).
- Talk to your child's teacher and ask for suggestions.
- If your child likes incentives and the computer, enroll in an online book group.
- If your child really enjoys a particular author, check with your librarian about other authors or books she might enjoy.
- Children also often enjoy the opportunity to read children's magazines.
Tips:
- Stay on the side of encouraging rather than nagging if you want your child to read. Nothing puts a child off faster than feeling forced to do something, so be careful.
- I cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading to your child daily. Make it a priority.
- Be consistent with reading aloud, trips to the library and other encouragement.
- If your child is in middle school, read Middle School, Reading and Tweens: Motivate Your Preteen to Read by Jennifer O'Donnell, the About.com Tweens Guide..
What You Need
Source: http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/forparents/ht/encourageread.htm
|
| 13. |
Holiday Cooking Science Lab
How teaching your child to cook can help with their lab skills
Cooking with your kids teaches valuable skills such as the importance of nutrition and what vitamins and minerals they can find in the foods you prepare. Leaning to cook gives kids control of their nutrition and calorie intake while imparting skills that benefit their ability to work in a lab and perform complex experiments.
The first step is to get your kids to look up recipes on the Internet or in a cook book. Watch YouTube videos which demonstrate different cooking techniques.
Once you have agreed upon a recipe, get them to make a list of all the ingredients. The next step is to set out all the implements and ingredients. This helps to reinforce the importance of preparation before starting an experiment in the lab.
Check that everything is in good working order. Discuss stove and electricity safety. This is an excellent way to learn how to safely handle equipment in the lab.
Ask your child to read the recipe from start to finish. Reading and following recipes teaches them how to follow instructions; a skill that will help with exams, lab work and experiments at school. Get your child to read the instructions out loud so that they can practice reading at the same time.
When encountering unfamiliar cooking terms such as folding, whisking or beating, ask your child to use the index where they can find definitions. This will help to reinforce the idea that unfamiliar words should be looked up.
Teach your child to measure accurately. Accurate measuring techniques will ensure success with both baking and experiments. Older children can investigate the chemical reactions that take place as the ingredients combine.
The most important thing is that everyone has fun. This is not only an excellent learning opportunity, but it is also a great activity to share with your children. This is the one time your kids can have fun playing with their food. H
ere is an easy recipe for cookies that are perfect for the holidays and for the beginner chef.
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1 egg
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 2 1/2 cups flour
In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Stir in the flour.
Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 6-inch-long roll. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. Decorate with icing sugar and candy.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
How teaching your child to cook can help with their lab skills
Cooking with your kids teaches valuable skills such as the importance of nutrition and what vitamins and minerals they can find in the foods you prepare. Leaning to cook gives kids control of their nutrition and calorie intake while imparting skills that benefit their ability to work in a lab and perform complex experiments.
The first step is to get your kids to look up recipes on the Internet or in a cook book. Watch YouTube videos which demonstrate different cooking techniques.
Once you have agreed upon a recipe, get them to make a list of all the ingredients. The next step is to set out all the implements and ingredients. This helps to reinforce the importance of preparation before starting an experiment in the lab.
Check that everything is in good working order. Discuss stove and electricity safety. This is an excellent way to learn how to safely handle equipment in the lab.
Ask your child to read the recipe from start to finish. Reading and following recipes teaches them how to follow instructions; a skill that will help with exams, lab work and experiments at school. Get your child to read the instructions out loud so that they can practice reading at the same time.
When encountering unfamiliar cooking terms such as folding, whisking or beating, ask your child to use the index where they can find definitions. This will help to reinforce the idea that unfamiliar words should be looked up.
Teach your child to measure accurately. Accurate measuring techniques will ensure success with both baking and experiments. Older children can investigate the chemical reactions that take place as the ingredients combine.
The most important thing is that everyone has fun. This is not only an excellent learning opportunity, but it is also a great activity to share with your children. This is the one time your kids can have fun playing with their food. H
ere is an easy recipe for cookies that are perfect for the holidays and for the beginner chef.
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 1 egg
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 2 1/2 cups flour
In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Stir in the flour.
Divide dough in half. Shape each half of dough into a 6-inch-long roll. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
Roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Carefully transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool. Decorate with icing sugar and candy.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
|
| 14. |
Private or Public?
When choosing a school for your kids, making the right choice is essential for their future success. For most people, the choice revolves around their ability to afford a private school education. For some parents, the values or religion that a school instils is the reason they opt for private school educations, for others it's the perception that private school educations are simply better.
Private schools are perceived to have better facilities, smaller classes and are able to develop their own curricula that may resonate with parent's religion or values. However, a recent study by the Center on Education Policy challenges traditional perceptions about private schools. President of the Center Jack Jennings sums it up: "Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance, instead, it appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background."
Public schools allow your child to mix with students of different abilities and backgrounds which will help them cope better socially as adults. Many public schools have excellent teachers and facilities and students who perform as well as those who attend private schools. Schools, private or public, differ vastly in quality and you should carefully investigate the options in your area.
If you are struggling with the choice between public and private schools, you may be overlooking a third option. A new trend in education is for parents to send their children to public schools and spend their money on private tuition. This enables their child to receive one-on-one guidance from trained professionals. Clubs and private coaches provide individual training to students who are athletic or musically minded. Nurturing your child's interests and providing them with tutors will help them to succeed. Tutors can tailor programs and activities to your child's specific needs. Tutors travel to your home so that you know your child is in a safe, secure environment.
Tutors are able to work on the foundations of your child's learning, filling in the missing conceptual building blocks so that they can succeed. They are able to work at the right pace for your child and the familiar home environment helps to bolster student's confidence. Tutors provide a supportive, nurturing atmosphere, free of the peer pressure and fear of failure that often accompanies classroom learning.
Tutors come to your home and fit in with your schedule, which is especially helpful for busy parents. Students can get help with assignments and homework so that they are able to keep up with their classmates. Tutors are not only for students who are struggling. Students who wish to excel can benefit from having a tutor too. They can explore their favourite subjects beyond the scope of the curriculum while challenging themselves in preparation for college.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
When choosing a school for your kids, making the right choice is essential for their future success. For most people, the choice revolves around their ability to afford a private school education. For some parents, the values or religion that a school instils is the reason they opt for private school educations, for others it's the perception that private school educations are simply better.
Private schools are perceived to have better facilities, smaller classes and are able to develop their own curricula that may resonate with parent's religion or values. However, a recent study by the Center on Education Policy challenges traditional perceptions about private schools. President of the Center Jack Jennings sums it up: "Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance, instead, it appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background."
Public schools allow your child to mix with students of different abilities and backgrounds which will help them cope better socially as adults. Many public schools have excellent teachers and facilities and students who perform as well as those who attend private schools. Schools, private or public, differ vastly in quality and you should carefully investigate the options in your area.
If you are struggling with the choice between public and private schools, you may be overlooking a third option. A new trend in education is for parents to send their children to public schools and spend their money on private tuition. This enables their child to receive one-on-one guidance from trained professionals. Clubs and private coaches provide individual training to students who are athletic or musically minded. Nurturing your child's interests and providing them with tutors will help them to succeed. Tutors can tailor programs and activities to your child's specific needs. Tutors travel to your home so that you know your child is in a safe, secure environment.
Tutors are able to work on the foundations of your child's learning, filling in the missing conceptual building blocks so that they can succeed. They are able to work at the right pace for your child and the familiar home environment helps to bolster student's confidence. Tutors provide a supportive, nurturing atmosphere, free of the peer pressure and fear of failure that often accompanies classroom learning.
Tutors come to your home and fit in with your schedule, which is especially helpful for busy parents. Students can get help with assignments and homework so that they are able to keep up with their classmates. Tutors are not only for students who are struggling. Students who wish to excel can benefit from having a tutor too. They can explore their favourite subjects beyond the scope of the curriculum while challenging themselves in preparation for college.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
|
| 15. |
The Top 6 Books for High School Students
Buy engaging books that your teenager will enjoy over the holidays. This list contains books that are primarily for enjoyment as well as those that have social and historical significance.
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
From the moment Arthur Dent woke up, it's been the strangest day. First, a construction team attempts to demolish his home. Then he discovers that aliens exist, that his best friend Ford Prefect is from a distant planet and that the earth is about to be destroyed by an alien construction crew; and that's all before morning tea. Take this amazing, bizarre, mind-expanding adventure through time and space with Arthur and Ford but beware; you'll never be able to think of cricket in the same way again.
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
An epic fantasy adventure that chronicles the battle for middle earth against the evil Lord Sauron. It's got elves, trolls, wizards, orcs and creatures of a more sinister nature that try to wrest the ring of power from the hobbit, Frodo in an attempt to gain ultimate power and rule all of middle earth. The trilogy is the third bestselling novel ever written with 150 million copies sold.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
An American classic dealing with important themes of acceptance, racism, oppression and injustice as told by Scout, a young girl living in depression-era Alabama. The book is told from the perspective of this young southern girl and invites us to learn life's lessons along with her. A poignant expose' of how society judges people by the way they look and how these judgements mould perception.
4. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
This book is best suited for the more mature teen and really challenges the concept of social norms. This crazy rollercoaster ride tells of a group of friends who shun the traditional societal stalwarts of family, work and home to take to the road. These perpetual travellers have a series of hair-raising adventures that act as a manifesto for the beatnik genre.
5. Slaughter House Five Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Vonnegut's unconventional style has greatly influenced pop culture in our century. This is the most critically acclaimed of Vonnegut's books; a satirical novel that tells the story of World War II through the eyes of the soldier Billy Pilgrim. Irreverent and controversial, the book has made it to the top 100 list of both Time magazines and the Modern Library.
6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When Bella Swan falls for Edward Cullen, she gets far more than she bargained for because Edward is a 104 year old vampire. The series consists of four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn which are available individually or in a box set. The series has won numerous awards most notably the 2008 British Book Award and the 2009 Kid's Choice Award.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
Buy engaging books that your teenager will enjoy over the holidays. This list contains books that are primarily for enjoyment as well as those that have social and historical significance.
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
From the moment Arthur Dent woke up, it's been the strangest day. First, a construction team attempts to demolish his home. Then he discovers that aliens exist, that his best friend Ford Prefect is from a distant planet and that the earth is about to be destroyed by an alien construction crew; and that's all before morning tea. Take this amazing, bizarre, mind-expanding adventure through time and space with Arthur and Ford but beware; you'll never be able to think of cricket in the same way again.
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
An epic fantasy adventure that chronicles the battle for middle earth against the evil Lord Sauron. It's got elves, trolls, wizards, orcs and creatures of a more sinister nature that try to wrest the ring of power from the hobbit, Frodo in an attempt to gain ultimate power and rule all of middle earth. The trilogy is the third bestselling novel ever written with 150 million copies sold.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
An American classic dealing with important themes of acceptance, racism, oppression and injustice as told by Scout, a young girl living in depression-era Alabama. The book is told from the perspective of this young southern girl and invites us to learn life's lessons along with her. A poignant expose' of how society judges people by the way they look and how these judgements mould perception.
4. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
This book is best suited for the more mature teen and really challenges the concept of social norms. This crazy rollercoaster ride tells of a group of friends who shun the traditional societal stalwarts of family, work and home to take to the road. These perpetual travellers have a series of hair-raising adventures that act as a manifesto for the beatnik genre.
5. Slaughter House Five Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Vonnegut's unconventional style has greatly influenced pop culture in our century. This is the most critically acclaimed of Vonnegut's books; a satirical novel that tells the story of World War II through the eyes of the soldier Billy Pilgrim. Irreverent and controversial, the book has made it to the top 100 list of both Time magazines and the Modern Library.
6. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
When Bella Swan falls for Edward Cullen, she gets far more than she bargained for because Edward is a 104 year old vampire. The series consists of four books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn which are available individually or in a box set. The series has won numerous awards most notably the 2008 British Book Award and the 2009 Kid's Choice Award.
Source: http://www.tutordoctor.com/tutor-doctor-blog
|
| 16. |
An Apple a Day Can Help Kids Make the Grade
By Dana Matas
Getting a child to eat healthy food can be a monumental challenge for any parent. However, studies show that all of the haggling, arguing, and hassle is actually worth the effort as a healthy diet leads to enhanced academic performance in school.
In fact, malnourished children often struggle in school because they are more likely to miss school, score lower on standardized tests, and repeat grades. Worse, bad eating habits can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes, that not only affect academic performance but a student’s ability to participate in extracurricular activities.
When you follow the chain of negative events, starting with bad nutrition, it is easy to see how a child’s academic career can suffer. For example, bad nutrition leads to a weakened immune system, which leads to increased doctor visits and missed school days. Missing school makes it harder for students to maintain their grades or keep up with lessons. Even if a student can keep up, bad nutrition can interfere with their ability to accept and digest information. Too much sugar, for instance, can cause attention deficit disorder-like symptoms and chronic headaches, making learning nearly impossible.
These particular nutrition problems usually arise when kids are left in charge of preparing their own breakfast and lunch. If they don’t skip meals all together, they usually are making poor food choices. Out of convenience, kids are drawn to processed foods that are high in sugar, sodium and fat. This brand of malnutrition is particularly insidious because health, growth and cognitive problems may not be noticed until a serious issue has developed.
The simple act of eating breakfast can make a world of difference in warding off many of these health problems. According to the Dairy Council of California, “A nutritious breakfast provides approximately one-fourth of the recommended dietary allowances for key nutrients such as protein, vitamin A, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.” This explains why schools offering breakfast service have seen such major improvements in their students’ overall health, attitude and performance.
However, breakfast is just one of the many ways parents can ensure their kids get a healthy start. Following are some additional suggestions for teaching your children healthy eating habits.
5 Tips to Better Student Nutrition:
- Don’t make the mistake of offering a wide variety of packaged snack items; rather offer a few healthy snacks like fresh fruits, trail mix, or cheese.
- Make sure the school offers healthy options for lunch and snack; otherwise pack your child’s lunch.
- Bring your kids to the grocery store to help choose their favorite foods.
- Limit their intake of high-sugar drinks including fruit-flavored drinks such as punch, soda and even 100% fruit juice.
- Let your kids help prepare a healthy meal; they’ll have a great time learning to eat nutritiously.
By Dana Matas
Getting a child to eat healthy food can be a monumental challenge for any parent. However, studies show that all of the haggling, arguing, and hassle is actually worth the effort as a healthy diet leads to enhanced academic performance in school.
In fact, malnourished children often struggle in school because they are more likely to miss school, score lower on standardized tests, and repeat grades. Worse, bad eating habits can lead to serious health problems, such as diabetes, that not only affect academic performance but a student’s ability to participate in extracurricular activities.
When you follow the chain of negative events, starting with bad nutrition, it is easy to see how a child’s academic career can suffer. For example, bad nutrition leads to a weakened immune system, which leads to increased doctor visits and missed school days. Missing school makes it harder for students to maintain their grades or keep up with lessons. Even if a student can keep up, bad nutrition can interfere with their ability to accept and digest information. Too much sugar, for instance, can cause attention deficit disorder-like symptoms and chronic headaches, making learning nearly impossible.
These particular nutrition problems usually arise when kids are left in charge of preparing their own breakfast and lunch. If they don’t skip meals all together, they usually are making poor food choices. Out of convenience, kids are drawn to processed foods that are high in sugar, sodium and fat. This brand of malnutrition is particularly insidious because health, growth and cognitive problems may not be noticed until a serious issue has developed.
The simple act of eating breakfast can make a world of difference in warding off many of these health problems. According to the Dairy Council of California, “A nutritious breakfast provides approximately one-fourth of the recommended dietary allowances for key nutrients such as protein, vitamin A, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.” This explains why schools offering breakfast service have seen such major improvements in their students’ overall health, attitude and performance.
However, breakfast is just one of the many ways parents can ensure their kids get a healthy start. Following are some additional suggestions for teaching your children healthy eating habits.
5 Tips to Better Student Nutrition:
- Don’t make the mistake of offering a wide variety of packaged snack items; rather offer a few healthy snacks like fresh fruits, trail mix, or cheese.
- Make sure the school offers healthy options for lunch and snack; otherwise pack your child’s lunch.
- Bring your kids to the grocery store to help choose their favorite foods.
- Limit their intake of high-sugar drinks including fruit-flavored drinks such as punch, soda and even 100% fruit juice.
- Let your kids help prepare a healthy meal; they’ll have a great time learning to eat nutritiously.
|
| 17. |
Discipline & Homework: Creating a Study Space
By Michele Blandino
Ask almost any teenager to take out the trash or clean up their room and they will tell you that they are “busy” with some other task. Yet, when it comes to doing homework, it is amazing how well they are able to multi-task.
In fact for many, it seems as though these assignments can’t be completed without simultaneously watching television, listening to music, talking on the telephone or Instant Messaging their friends. Needless to say, these distractions make it difficult for the student to give the work their full attention.
It is important that students of all ages realize that their homework is every bit as important as the work they complete in class and as such, it should demand their complete attention. This means that distractions, electronic and otherwise, should be kept to a minimum. One way to do this is to create a study space.
Choosing a Study Space
The most important consideration for selecting a study space is the amount of distractions that may be present. For this reason, places such as the kitchen table, family room and even the child’s bedroom may not be the best place for them to work, particularly if they are easily distracted. Instead, consider using an unused bedroom or other seldom-used area of the house where the temptation to go online or watch television is not an issue. When considering where to set up this study space, be sure to look for places that are well-lit and comfortable.
It’s important to remember that not everyone necessarily studies at a desk. Indeed, some people work better when they are lying down or sitting on the floor. Be sure to keep your personal habits in mind as you go about setting up your space so that you can be sure to maximize your study time; it certainly doesn’t make any sense to purchase a desk and chair if you know that you will wind up doing your homework lying on the floor.
Make Regular Use of the Space
Once you have set up your study space, you need to use it consistently. By going to the same spot every day to do homework, you will begin to view that space as a place where work gets done. This mentality, combined with the absence of distractions should result in your being able to complete tasks faster. In addition to working more efficiently, you will probably also find that you will retain more of the material than previously.
You should also keep a supply of things you need to complete your work in your study area. Having items such as pens, pencils, paper, erasers, a calculator and even a dictionary, close by will help to keep you on track.
Finally, ask other family members to respect your job as a student by requesting that they don’t use your study space while you are there or take the supplies you keep there. Not only will this help ensure that your space is ready for you to use when you need it, it will keep you from having to waste valuable study time tracking down the things you need to complete your assignments.
By Michele Blandino
Ask almost any teenager to take out the trash or clean up their room and they will tell you that they are “busy” with some other task. Yet, when it comes to doing homework, it is amazing how well they are able to multi-task.
In fact for many, it seems as though these assignments can’t be completed without simultaneously watching television, listening to music, talking on the telephone or Instant Messaging their friends. Needless to say, these distractions make it difficult for the student to give the work their full attention.
It is important that students of all ages realize that their homework is every bit as important as the work they complete in class and as such, it should demand their complete attention. This means that distractions, electronic and otherwise, should be kept to a minimum. One way to do this is to create a study space.
Choosing a Study Space
The most important consideration for selecting a study space is the amount of distractions that may be present. For this reason, places such as the kitchen table, family room and even the child’s bedroom may not be the best place for them to work, particularly if they are easily distracted. Instead, consider using an unused bedroom or other seldom-used area of the house where the temptation to go online or watch television is not an issue. When considering where to set up this study space, be sure to look for places that are well-lit and comfortable.
It’s important to remember that not everyone necessarily studies at a desk. Indeed, some people work better when they are lying down or sitting on the floor. Be sure to keep your personal habits in mind as you go about setting up your space so that you can be sure to maximize your study time; it certainly doesn’t make any sense to purchase a desk and chair if you know that you will wind up doing your homework lying on the floor.
Make Regular Use of the Space
Once you have set up your study space, you need to use it consistently. By going to the same spot every day to do homework, you will begin to view that space as a place where work gets done. This mentality, combined with the absence of distractions should result in your being able to complete tasks faster. In addition to working more efficiently, you will probably also find that you will retain more of the material than previously.
You should also keep a supply of things you need to complete your work in your study area. Having items such as pens, pencils, paper, erasers, a calculator and even a dictionary, close by will help to keep you on track.
Finally, ask other family members to respect your job as a student by requesting that they don’t use your study space while you are there or take the supplies you keep there. Not only will this help ensure that your space is ready for you to use when you need it, it will keep you from having to waste valuable study time tracking down the things you need to complete your assignments.
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| 18. |
Homework: How Much Should You Help
By Jennifer V. Hughes
Homework is an important part of a child’s education, but it can also be the source of stress and conflict. You want your child to do well, but you hate being a nag. You want to help, but you don’t know how.
With all the homework hoopla, many parents feel they are the ones back in the classroom, but experts say it doesn’t have to be that way.
Why Homework Matters
Meredith Resnick, a learning specialist and educational consultant, has a line she uses both with clients and her 8-year-old son when it comes to foot-dragging over homework. “I already went to 2nd grade,” says Resnick, who works in New York City. “Your teacher wants to see what you can do.”
In addition to reinforcing what students learn in class, homework gives teachers an idea of how well children are learning and gives parents a window into schoolwork. In the early years, homework also helps students develop the time-management and planning skills they’ll need as the work gets more difficult.
It’s important not to cross the line between helping and doing, says Marina Koestler Ruben, who wrote How To Tutor Your Own Child: Boost Grades and Inspire a Lifelong Love of Learning—Without Paying for a Professional Tutor. “If the reason you want Fred Junior to conjugate a French verb is so that he gets an A, then you need to take a closer look,” Ruben says. “If the goal is for the child to learn, the parent will encourage a child to do his own work and catch his own mistakes.”
How Much To Help
One question many parents have about homework is whether to correct their child’s work. There are different opinions on this, so ask your child’s teacher what she prefers.
Resnick suggests leaving the original with mistakes and then working with your child on the correct answer. Nancy Buck, a parenting expert and developmental psychologist based in Rhode Island, believes that children should take responsibility for checking their own work. “It’s the child’s business,” Buck says. “If the purpose of homework is to help them learn, then it’s the child’s job to figure it out. Your job is to support your child.”
Have a Plan
Some children benefit most from doing homework as soon as they get home from school; others need some downtime first. Some do better working in their room alone; some thrive at the kitchen table. You know your child best, so follow your instincts when establishing a routine.
Having a plan in place can lead to fewer homework hassles, says Audrey Klein, a private tutor and former classroom teacher from Chicago. “It helps so that you’re not arguing later,” she says. “They know it’s homework time, so let’s get to it.”
Setting up a plan doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have any homework struggles, though. If a homework plan doesn’t work, parents should change it, Buck says. “You tell the child, ‘Let’s try again. I know we can set it up so that when homework time comes, you can do it and feel good and I don’t have to nag,’” she says.
Homework Strategies
It’s one thing if your son makes an error on an assignment but another if he simply isn’t trying hard enough and you know he can do better. For example, if he describes a book with the sentence “It was nice,” Klein suggests replying with “Give me another word instead of ‘nice,’ something more specific.”
“You can brainstorm with them,” Klein says. “That’s one of the wonderful things a parent can do, to give that one-on-one help.”
Ruben says that when a child hits a roadblock in a homework assignment, a parent should first consider whether the student is tired or hungry, and work to prevent those common issues. Children also can worry that a parent will be judgmental. “You can’t take it personally if your child is having trouble,” she says. “You have to be able to disengage. Parents can be quick to say ‘Why don’t you remember this? What’s your problem?’ That doesn’t help.”
Switching gears is often helpful when a child gets stumped on an assignment, for example by talking out an essay before trying to write it. Switching parents can help, too. There is nothing wrong with taking a break.
If a child—or a parent—doesn’t understand a particular assignment, write the teacher a note, suggests 3rd grade teacher Christy Bastos. That communication is one way she knows that what she’s teaching is getting across.
“If I get seven kids...circling number seven and saying they don’t understand it, I know I didn’t do a good job communicating on something,” says Bastos, who teaches in Washington, Pa.; teachers sometimes assume that “no news is good news,” she says.
Most important, resist the urge to do your child’s homework for her. Mom and Dad helping out too much may make it easier day to day, Bastos says, but it can be a barrier to learning.
Finding the Right Approach
Kathy Woods knew how it was supposed to go with homework in her house. Her son would sit peacefully and quietly at the dining room table with his pencils neatly lined up, and she would help as needed. “I had this whole June Cleaver idea for it,” says Woods, who lives in Teaneck, N.J., with her family of three boys—an 8th grader, a 2nd grader, and a 3-year-old.
Her oldest son had other ideas.
From the time he started to get homework, it was a huge battle, says Woods of her 13-year-old son, Jordan, who has been diagnosed with mild ADHD. “I thought that sitting there with him, it would be easier for him, but it didn’t work,” she says.
“I was doing a little bit of the helicopter parent thing, and I was annoying both of us,” Woods admits. “I felt that was what a good mother would do, but I was getting on my own nerves. I knew there had to be a better way.”
As her son got older, he started to be able to come home from school on his own while her other boys were at day care or with a babysitter. “Left to his own devices, he’d come home and sprawl out in the middle of the family room and listen to the most hideous rock music I’d ever heard”—Woods pauses for dramatic effect—“and he would get his homework done.”
She says she still checks his homework and she has found that most of the time, he is doing a great job. Her middle boy, 7-year-old Destin, does need the quiet of his room to study, but she’s realized that what Jordan needed to succeed was to set his own rules.
“The more responsibility I give him, the better he does,” she says. “When I hover, he’s like, ‘Fine, you do it.’ He gives the minimum amount of effort. That’s something I had to do, to give up worrying about the process as long as he gets it done.”
Teaching Responsibility
Janae Condit says she’s had a range of problems—and solutions—dealing with homework and her now 5th grade son, Colin, over the years.
For a while he would drag his feet, making homework take forever. She tried setting a timer, but he then rushed through and did sloppy work. Now she just insists that it’s done by 6 p.m.
He was always forgetting things, like books, from school. Condit instituted a new rule: For every forgotten book, Colin had to go to bed an hour earlier. His memory got better.
Condit, who lives in Beverly Hills, Mich., with Colin and his three younger siblings, hired a tutor to help him work on his study and organizational skills, a move that worked in unexpected ways. “He hated the tutor,” Condit says with a laugh. “We wouldn’t let him off the hook until he improved.”
In fall 2010, Condit let her son hand in homework without her checking it, so if he made mistakes he’d lose credit. “His grades suffered because of it, and I said, ‘We did it your way, now we can do it my way,’” she recalls. “He needed me to step in a little.” She checked his work in the second semester, then he went back to doing it on his own and was doing much better work. Best of all, Condit says, her son is proud of his work now.
“Before, he wouldn’t care less; now it’s the first thing he wants to show me when he comes through the door,” she says. “I think he’s really starting to take responsibility, and it’s really great.”
Source: http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10805-homework-how-much-should-you-help
By Jennifer V. Hughes
Homework is an important part of a child’s education, but it can also be the source of stress and conflict. You want your child to do well, but you hate being a nag. You want to help, but you don’t know how.
With all the homework hoopla, many parents feel they are the ones back in the classroom, but experts say it doesn’t have to be that way.
Why Homework Matters
Meredith Resnick, a learning specialist and educational consultant, has a line she uses both with clients and her 8-year-old son when it comes to foot-dragging over homework. “I already went to 2nd grade,” says Resnick, who works in New York City. “Your teacher wants to see what you can do.”
In addition to reinforcing what students learn in class, homework gives teachers an idea of how well children are learning and gives parents a window into schoolwork. In the early years, homework also helps students develop the time-management and planning skills they’ll need as the work gets more difficult.
It’s important not to cross the line between helping and doing, says Marina Koestler Ruben, who wrote How To Tutor Your Own Child: Boost Grades and Inspire a Lifelong Love of Learning—Without Paying for a Professional Tutor. “If the reason you want Fred Junior to conjugate a French verb is so that he gets an A, then you need to take a closer look,” Ruben says. “If the goal is for the child to learn, the parent will encourage a child to do his own work and catch his own mistakes.”
How Much To Help
One question many parents have about homework is whether to correct their child’s work. There are different opinions on this, so ask your child’s teacher what she prefers.
Resnick suggests leaving the original with mistakes and then working with your child on the correct answer. Nancy Buck, a parenting expert and developmental psychologist based in Rhode Island, believes that children should take responsibility for checking their own work. “It’s the child’s business,” Buck says. “If the purpose of homework is to help them learn, then it’s the child’s job to figure it out. Your job is to support your child.”
Have a Plan
Some children benefit most from doing homework as soon as they get home from school; others need some downtime first. Some do better working in their room alone; some thrive at the kitchen table. You know your child best, so follow your instincts when establishing a routine.
Having a plan in place can lead to fewer homework hassles, says Audrey Klein, a private tutor and former classroom teacher from Chicago. “It helps so that you’re not arguing later,” she says. “They know it’s homework time, so let’s get to it.”
Setting up a plan doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have any homework struggles, though. If a homework plan doesn’t work, parents should change it, Buck says. “You tell the child, ‘Let’s try again. I know we can set it up so that when homework time comes, you can do it and feel good and I don’t have to nag,’” she says.
Homework Strategies
It’s one thing if your son makes an error on an assignment but another if he simply isn’t trying hard enough and you know he can do better. For example, if he describes a book with the sentence “It was nice,” Klein suggests replying with “Give me another word instead of ‘nice,’ something more specific.”
“You can brainstorm with them,” Klein says. “That’s one of the wonderful things a parent can do, to give that one-on-one help.”
Ruben says that when a child hits a roadblock in a homework assignment, a parent should first consider whether the student is tired or hungry, and work to prevent those common issues. Children also can worry that a parent will be judgmental. “You can’t take it personally if your child is having trouble,” she says. “You have to be able to disengage. Parents can be quick to say ‘Why don’t you remember this? What’s your problem?’ That doesn’t help.”
Switching gears is often helpful when a child gets stumped on an assignment, for example by talking out an essay before trying to write it. Switching parents can help, too. There is nothing wrong with taking a break.
If a child—or a parent—doesn’t understand a particular assignment, write the teacher a note, suggests 3rd grade teacher Christy Bastos. That communication is one way she knows that what she’s teaching is getting across.
“If I get seven kids...circling number seven and saying they don’t understand it, I know I didn’t do a good job communicating on something,” says Bastos, who teaches in Washington, Pa.; teachers sometimes assume that “no news is good news,” she says.
Most important, resist the urge to do your child’s homework for her. Mom and Dad helping out too much may make it easier day to day, Bastos says, but it can be a barrier to learning.
Finding the Right Approach
Kathy Woods knew how it was supposed to go with homework in her house. Her son would sit peacefully and quietly at the dining room table with his pencils neatly lined up, and she would help as needed. “I had this whole June Cleaver idea for it,” says Woods, who lives in Teaneck, N.J., with her family of three boys—an 8th grader, a 2nd grader, and a 3-year-old.
Her oldest son had other ideas.
From the time he started to get homework, it was a huge battle, says Woods of her 13-year-old son, Jordan, who has been diagnosed with mild ADHD. “I thought that sitting there with him, it would be easier for him, but it didn’t work,” she says.
“I was doing a little bit of the helicopter parent thing, and I was annoying both of us,” Woods admits. “I felt that was what a good mother would do, but I was getting on my own nerves. I knew there had to be a better way.”
As her son got older, he started to be able to come home from school on his own while her other boys were at day care or with a babysitter. “Left to his own devices, he’d come home and sprawl out in the middle of the family room and listen to the most hideous rock music I’d ever heard”—Woods pauses for dramatic effect—“and he would get his homework done.”
She says she still checks his homework and she has found that most of the time, he is doing a great job. Her middle boy, 7-year-old Destin, does need the quiet of his room to study, but she’s realized that what Jordan needed to succeed was to set his own rules.
“The more responsibility I give him, the better he does,” she says. “When I hover, he’s like, ‘Fine, you do it.’ He gives the minimum amount of effort. That’s something I had to do, to give up worrying about the process as long as he gets it done.”
Teaching Responsibility
Janae Condit says she’s had a range of problems—and solutions—dealing with homework and her now 5th grade son, Colin, over the years.
For a while he would drag his feet, making homework take forever. She tried setting a timer, but he then rushed through and did sloppy work. Now she just insists that it’s done by 6 p.m.
He was always forgetting things, like books, from school. Condit instituted a new rule: For every forgotten book, Colin had to go to bed an hour earlier. His memory got better.
Condit, who lives in Beverly Hills, Mich., with Colin and his three younger siblings, hired a tutor to help him work on his study and organizational skills, a move that worked in unexpected ways. “He hated the tutor,” Condit says with a laugh. “We wouldn’t let him off the hook until he improved.”
In fall 2010, Condit let her son hand in homework without her checking it, so if he made mistakes he’d lose credit. “His grades suffered because of it, and I said, ‘We did it your way, now we can do it my way,’” she recalls. “He needed me to step in a little.” She checked his work in the second semester, then he went back to doing it on his own and was doing much better work. Best of all, Condit says, her son is proud of his work now.
“Before, he wouldn’t care less; now it’s the first thing he wants to show me when he comes through the door,” she says. “I think he’s really starting to take responsibility, and it’s really great.”
Source: http://www.schoolfamily.com/school-family-articles/article/10805-homework-how-much-should-you-help
|
| 19. |
The Khan Academy: Changing the Face of Education
By Cindy Donaldson
Teaching and technology go hand in hand. Gone are the days when electronics and gadgets are seen as a threat to learning.
“The Steve Jobs Model for Education Reform” by Rupert Murdoch argues that educators must harness technology to spark students’ imaginations.
“The minute they step back into their classrooms, it's like going back in time. The top-down, one-size-fits-all approach frustrates the ones who could do more advanced work. And it leaves further and further behind those who need extra help to keep up,” writes Murdoch.
One organization that has found a way to improve education through technology is the Khan Academy. By providing an online library of math videos and assessments for students to use, they have created a self-driven, individualized curriculum that motivates students with immediate feedback and positive rewards. Reconstructing the classroom lets students drive the pace and content of their learning, having teachers stand by as coaches and experts.
Khan Academy’s vision began in 2004, when founder Salman Khan’s cousin called and asked him for math tutoring. He was eager to help, but needed a creative solution to bridge the 1000 miles that separated them. Khan, a former hedge fund analyst with degrees from MIT and Harvard, picked up the telephone and used Yahoo Doodle to work through the math problems with his niece. From then on, her math performance improved, and he began making videos of lessons to share with family members and friends. Within weeks, his YouTube videos became a sensation, attracting hits from all over the world.
In 2009, Khan quit his job and began working full-time on educational videos and accompanying materials with the mission of “…changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” Within a year, his efforts garnered attention and funding from prominent sources like Ann Doerr, Bill Gates, and Google. Today, over 2.5 million unique users have visited Khan Academy, which has expanded to include videos about Science, Economics, Finance, and History. Anyone with a computer and a Facebook or Google account can log onto the Khan website to take advantage of Khan’s vast library.
After that, it was a straight shot to success. In 2010, the Superintendent of California’s Los Altos School District heard about Khan Academy, and decided to pilot the program in five classrooms in the district. Students were given laptops and allowed to work at their own pace via personalized “Knowledge Maps” and videos. Khan Academy also built personalized “dashboards” for the teachers’ laptops to monitor each student’s progress.
Sundar Subbarayan, Khan Academy’s Implementation Lead, knows why this new teaching style is so successful. Having worked for Google, Microsoft, and McKinsey & Co, Subbarayan brings a broad perspective on the kind of education children need in the modern age.
“We observed two kinds of data in the pilot classrooms,” Subbarayan told us. “Qualitative and quantitative. Qualitatively, we saw increased student engagement. Students who typically didn’t think they were capable in math realized that they could do it after all. We saw students’ confidence and motivation improve.” In one classroom, he saw students write their name on the board next to topics in which they either needed help or could offer help. He also liked the way teachers could immediately tell when students were struggling, and could step in to help before students got frustrated.
Quantitatively, standardized test scores soared. For one remedial seventh grade class, he saw a 78% improvement in math test scores. Los Altos was so impressed by the results, they decided to implement the program for all fifth and sixth grade classrooms in 2011 as well as more seventh and eighth grades.
Khan Academy is now piloting its curriculum in fifteen other Bay Area districts, and teacher-training is one of its most important focuses. Khan Academy coaches meet with teachers and help them work through challenges. The data they are collecting helps build a body of “Best Teaching Practices” that can be passed along to more teachers in the future who wish to implement the program.
Subbarayan is quick to credit good teaching for the Khan Academy’s classroom success. “Teachers manage the class, step in when ideas are confusing, and help students explore challenging questions. They also help students with goal-setting, which is a very important life skill.”
Khan Academy is pleased by what they’ve accomplished, but hope to keep pushing the limits of what they can provide. They are building a library of project-based, hands-on lessons as well as developing a model for high school, where classes are more topic-specific. He also hopes to build his own school, where “students spend 20 percent of their day watching videos and doing self-paced exercises and the rest of the day building robots or painting pictures or composing music.” Sounds like a dream school to us.
Source: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/khan-academy/
By Cindy Donaldson
Teaching and technology go hand in hand. Gone are the days when electronics and gadgets are seen as a threat to learning.
“The Steve Jobs Model for Education Reform” by Rupert Murdoch argues that educators must harness technology to spark students’ imaginations.
“The minute they step back into their classrooms, it's like going back in time. The top-down, one-size-fits-all approach frustrates the ones who could do more advanced work. And it leaves further and further behind those who need extra help to keep up,” writes Murdoch.
One organization that has found a way to improve education through technology is the Khan Academy. By providing an online library of math videos and assessments for students to use, they have created a self-driven, individualized curriculum that motivates students with immediate feedback and positive rewards. Reconstructing the classroom lets students drive the pace and content of their learning, having teachers stand by as coaches and experts.
Khan Academy’s vision began in 2004, when founder Salman Khan’s cousin called and asked him for math tutoring. He was eager to help, but needed a creative solution to bridge the 1000 miles that separated them. Khan, a former hedge fund analyst with degrees from MIT and Harvard, picked up the telephone and used Yahoo Doodle to work through the math problems with his niece. From then on, her math performance improved, and he began making videos of lessons to share with family members and friends. Within weeks, his YouTube videos became a sensation, attracting hits from all over the world.
In 2009, Khan quit his job and began working full-time on educational videos and accompanying materials with the mission of “…changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone, anywhere.” Within a year, his efforts garnered attention and funding from prominent sources like Ann Doerr, Bill Gates, and Google. Today, over 2.5 million unique users have visited Khan Academy, which has expanded to include videos about Science, Economics, Finance, and History. Anyone with a computer and a Facebook or Google account can log onto the Khan website to take advantage of Khan’s vast library.
After that, it was a straight shot to success. In 2010, the Superintendent of California’s Los Altos School District heard about Khan Academy, and decided to pilot the program in five classrooms in the district. Students were given laptops and allowed to work at their own pace via personalized “Knowledge Maps” and videos. Khan Academy also built personalized “dashboards” for the teachers’ laptops to monitor each student’s progress.
Sundar Subbarayan, Khan Academy’s Implementation Lead, knows why this new teaching style is so successful. Having worked for Google, Microsoft, and McKinsey & Co, Subbarayan brings a broad perspective on the kind of education children need in the modern age.
“We observed two kinds of data in the pilot classrooms,” Subbarayan told us. “Qualitative and quantitative. Qualitatively, we saw increased student engagement. Students who typically didn’t think they were capable in math realized that they could do it after all. We saw students’ confidence and motivation improve.” In one classroom, he saw students write their name on the board next to topics in which they either needed help or could offer help. He also liked the way teachers could immediately tell when students were struggling, and could step in to help before students got frustrated.
Quantitatively, standardized test scores soared. For one remedial seventh grade class, he saw a 78% improvement in math test scores. Los Altos was so impressed by the results, they decided to implement the program for all fifth and sixth grade classrooms in 2011 as well as more seventh and eighth grades.
Khan Academy is now piloting its curriculum in fifteen other Bay Area districts, and teacher-training is one of its most important focuses. Khan Academy coaches meet with teachers and help them work through challenges. The data they are collecting helps build a body of “Best Teaching Practices” that can be passed along to more teachers in the future who wish to implement the program.
Subbarayan is quick to credit good teaching for the Khan Academy’s classroom success. “Teachers manage the class, step in when ideas are confusing, and help students explore challenging questions. They also help students with goal-setting, which is a very important life skill.”
Khan Academy is pleased by what they’ve accomplished, but hope to keep pushing the limits of what they can provide. They are building a library of project-based, hands-on lessons as well as developing a model for high school, where classes are more topic-specific. He also hopes to build his own school, where “students spend 20 percent of their day watching videos and doing self-paced exercises and the rest of the day building robots or painting pictures or composing music.” Sounds like a dream school to us.
Source: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/khan-academy/
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| 20. |
Giving Thanks: Teach Your Child the Gift of Gratitude
By Lisa M. Cope
Teaching your child to say “thank you” can feel like living the movie Groundhog Day. You know the one where Bill Murray wakes up every morning and it’s the same day? "Thank you" is kind of like that. You urge your child to say it multiple times a day, time and time again, waiting for that one day when she will say it herself, all by herself, without a prompt.
Take heart, dear parent. The fact that your child doesn't express his gratitude may have more to do with development than it does with lack of manners. Children have difficulty saying thank you because at a young age, they don’t realize how their behavior affects other people. They are completely preoccupied with the present, living only in the moment, and failing to recognize or predict future pleasure. An inability to talk about feelings and an underdeveloped sense of empathy also contribute to a child’s difficulty giving thanks.
In the book, Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, authors Laura Davis and Janis Keyser offer ways to help teach manners in a way even the youngest children can understand:
- First, talk about your family customs with your children. If you don’t have any, start developing some. Say to your child, “In our family, we always say thank you when someone gives us a gift.” Repeating your own traditions will help your child understand that he is a part of a larger group that behaves a certain way.
- Model the skills you want to teach. You know that old saying, “do as I say, not as I do?” Well, not here my friend. You want them to do as you do, so you need to do it right. Remember to say “thank you” to people in your life so your children hear you using the phrase. The more they see and hear you thanking people for their kindness, the more likely it is that your children will pattern that behavior.
- Show, don't tell. According to Marleen Didech, a parent educator and coach in San Jose, California, “Parents have to teach thankfulness through the way they live their lives. That’s where it starts. Children can demonstrate empathy at an early age if they are shown a model.”
- Give your child information and make your expectations clear. Tell him “Your Dad spent a lot of time fixing your bike; it would make him happy to hear you thank him for it.” If she starts to learn that other people’s feelings are being affected by her behavior, she will be more likely to show kindness of spirit. Let her know what you expect. For example, tell her “We’re not leaving Noah’s house until you find a way to say thank you.”
- Give your child choices as to how she would like to say “thank you.” Rather than nagging her again for not saying it, ask her if she’d like to sing Uncle Roger a "thank you" song, or paint him a "thank you" picture. Kids love to make their own choices and if it’s fun, they may come up with a "thank you" idea all on their own.
When you support the development of empathy in your child, you are giving her the gift of good manners. Believe it or not, they will start to flow out of her naturally. And don’t limit yourself to teaching kids to be thankful only for material things. Didech even suggests that you “make a list of things together that you are grateful for in life. It can be as simple as ‘I’m thankful that the sun is out.’ You have to plant the seeds early on and most importantly, you have to walk the walk.”
Giving back to your community is another great way to teach gratitude. By seeing others less fortunate, children will begin to learn to appreciate what they have. And one day, right out of the blue, your child will give you a beautiful “thank you” and truly mean it.
Source: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Teaching_Gratitude/
By Lisa M. Cope
Teaching your child to say “thank you” can feel like living the movie Groundhog Day. You know the one where Bill Murray wakes up every morning and it’s the same day? "Thank you" is kind of like that. You urge your child to say it multiple times a day, time and time again, waiting for that one day when she will say it herself, all by herself, without a prompt.
Take heart, dear parent. The fact that your child doesn't express his gratitude may have more to do with development than it does with lack of manners. Children have difficulty saying thank you because at a young age, they don’t realize how their behavior affects other people. They are completely preoccupied with the present, living only in the moment, and failing to recognize or predict future pleasure. An inability to talk about feelings and an underdeveloped sense of empathy also contribute to a child’s difficulty giving thanks.
In the book, Becoming the Parent You Want to Be, authors Laura Davis and Janis Keyser offer ways to help teach manners in a way even the youngest children can understand:
- First, talk about your family customs with your children. If you don’t have any, start developing some. Say to your child, “In our family, we always say thank you when someone gives us a gift.” Repeating your own traditions will help your child understand that he is a part of a larger group that behaves a certain way.
- Model the skills you want to teach. You know that old saying, “do as I say, not as I do?” Well, not here my friend. You want them to do as you do, so you need to do it right. Remember to say “thank you” to people in your life so your children hear you using the phrase. The more they see and hear you thanking people for their kindness, the more likely it is that your children will pattern that behavior.
- Show, don't tell. According to Marleen Didech, a parent educator and coach in San Jose, California, “Parents have to teach thankfulness through the way they live their lives. That’s where it starts. Children can demonstrate empathy at an early age if they are shown a model.”
- Give your child information and make your expectations clear. Tell him “Your Dad spent a lot of time fixing your bike; it would make him happy to hear you thank him for it.” If she starts to learn that other people’s feelings are being affected by her behavior, she will be more likely to show kindness of spirit. Let her know what you expect. For example, tell her “We’re not leaving Noah’s house until you find a way to say thank you.”
- Give your child choices as to how she would like to say “thank you.” Rather than nagging her again for not saying it, ask her if she’d like to sing Uncle Roger a "thank you" song, or paint him a "thank you" picture. Kids love to make their own choices and if it’s fun, they may come up with a "thank you" idea all on their own.
When you support the development of empathy in your child, you are giving her the gift of good manners. Believe it or not, they will start to flow out of her naturally. And don’t limit yourself to teaching kids to be thankful only for material things. Didech even suggests that you “make a list of things together that you are grateful for in life. It can be as simple as ‘I’m thankful that the sun is out.’ You have to plant the seeds early on and most importantly, you have to walk the walk.”
Giving back to your community is another great way to teach gratitude. By seeing others less fortunate, children will begin to learn to appreciate what they have. And one day, right out of the blue, your child will give you a beautiful “thank you” and truly mean it.
Source: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Teaching_Gratitude/
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