Avoiding Wrong Education for Your Children

In this modern era, everything is become very easy for you. Today, there are many things that you can do if you want to make your children become more successful. You can send your children in the best school or you can find the special education program for your children.

The participation of parent in children’s growth is become very important. If they are educated by their own parents they will be more educated and close with their family. Besides that, it will be very important for you to help them grow in the right environment. Sometimes it is not easy for the parents to educate their children by themselves. If it is happen, today you can try to use educate software child. It is become one of the most popular software that you can use to educate your child. You will get the guidance in how to teach your children. It will be worth it to try for you if you are giving your own body’s to teach your child.

It will be important for the parent to keep their children happy and healthy to bring a better life for them. Parents become the key to help the self-discipline of children and also bring a positive character for their own child.

Help Children Development

Every child has the different potential in their life. If they want to explore their own potential, there are many things that the parents should do. Giving the right education will become a good choice for you. It will be better for you if you find the potential of your children and you explore it.

Child development is referring to psychological and the biological changes which will occur in every human between their birth and the end of their adolescence. It is become the most important individual progress which will happen in every people. There are many aspects which will be influence people’s growth such as genetic factors, prenatal life, and environment. As a parent, you will have the most difficult task that you should do. You should make sure that your children will have the best education to become successful when they reach their future. Based on that fact, you should follow the development of your children to maintain their growth.

You should know more about the skill of your children. After that, you can support your children to improve their skill. By giving a big support to your children, you will get some pleasure. You can also send your children in a special school which will help them to improve their skills.

Parenting Counsel for your Children

If you want to make your children become more successful in the future, there are many things that you should do. The most important thing that you should do to make your children growth well is by finding the right education since they are children.

The development of children will be affected by many aspects such as the environment, parents’ education, and the education from their school. Counsel  or education for their parents is become the most important thing that will determines the characteristic of your children. It will affect the growth and the developed of your children to become an adult. Because of development is known as the transaction between your child and their environment, it will be better for you to maintain the growth of your children. The environment will help the children to reach their full potential. Besides that, parents will have the big part of children life to maintain the potential of their children. You should make sure that you will have a time to stay close with your children.

By giving child family development, you can help your children to grow in the right way. By giving the best education for your children, you can help them to reach success in their future.

Taking Care your Child Development

There are many things that you should do if you want to maintain your child’s education. Your children will become the most important part for your life. Every parent is wanted to make their own child feels success in their life. If they want to do that, it is better for every parent to give the best education for their own child.

Today, there are many kinds of education that you can find to improve your children’s brain. If you want to give education for your children, the first thing that you should do is find some information about it first. You should make sure that you will give the right education for your children. It will be the crucial thing for you to maintain child development. Development is known as the result of transaction between the child and the environment. Each result will be affected with the development of traits and skills. Besides that, the right frequency, intensity and quality of the interaction between environment and your children will affected the resulting potential of your child.

It will be better for the parents to concern more about what’s your children needs. You can give the guidance for your children activity such as video gaming, internet, music, videos, and many more to maintain their development.

Education for your Children

If you have a child, there are many things that you should prepare. It will be better for you if you prepare the right education for your children. It will be better for you if you try to find the education from the basic step for your children. You should find what kind of education will be suitable for your children.

Today, the benefits of early childhood education have been popular since long time ago. Based on a deep research, you will get some benefits if you give early education for your children. Early childhood education is also known as an organization which is practice to educate early childhood. It will be better for you to give the right education at the most vulnerable stages in people’s life. By giving the right education at the first year, you will get help to build the sense of self for your children. Besides that, it will be very helpful to build your children first identity.

It will be the most important part for you if you give early education for your children. You can easily help your children to have a relation with their friends, know more about this world, and find their identity.

Autistic Children Could be Assisted By Trained Dogs

There is a rising number of children with autism. Since autism needs special treatments, there is a huge demand of special education for children with autism. One of the latest methods used in special education for autism children is using service dogs to assist them to become independence. 

We all know that children and dogs are perfect combination. It is by nature that children tend to love dogs and dogs are willing to take children as their own pack. Service dogs are trained dogs for special purposes and the used of therapy dogs to assist children with reading and speaking abilities are widely practiced. With service dog assistance, an autistic child could give calming influence and security to help the child access different environments independently. Service dog assistance could also prevent autistic child from wandering away and could search and track the child when it happens. 
It is also proven by several studies that service dog could prevent and stop repetitive behaviors by nudging the child. Day to day interaction with service dog could also develop social skill and the autistic child will engage more on social activities and social tasks. Although the reasons aren’t clearly known, it is also proven that service dog assistance could help autistic child to focus more on their academic and social tasks. 

If We Can Train our Toddler at Home, Does We still Need Preschool?

There is still a long lasting debate about the necessity of preschool education. More and more parents are willing to send their children to preschool as they believe their children could get lots of benefits from early education program. 

As a matter a fact, most of programs as well as benefits from preschool could be obtained at home. If you are a non-working housewife and spend your day with your kids at home, you don’t need to spend lots of money to pay preschool education. You can give the same education form your toddler. There are lots of toddler education resources you can find from many books as well as from internet. The most important thing is you should give your toddler full attention as well as participate him on your activities. You need to give narrative to all activities to stimulate his language and thinking development. Don’t hesitate to enjoy physical activities with your toddler such as running, galloping, and many more.

There are many different educational books and toys you could buy for your toddler. Off course you need to select the proper ones with his age and off course, it should be attractive and interactive. Since this is the computer era, you can also buy educational software and play it with your toddler. You can also build his social skill by participating him in your social life such as shopping, walking and playing at park, and many more.

Music Education for Child

Music is one of the highest expressions of artistry. It is an important part of our life and good music could help us build proper moods. Music is also an important part of child education. It is a huge part of school education in all levels and even since their early childhood. 

Lots of studies have shown that music could boost brain development even for babies inside the wombs. We all know Mozart Effects isn’t it? Babies and toddlers are also get benefits if they are exposed with appropriate music. As music could stimulate brain development and function, children could get advantages on math, language, and any creative capacity imaginable. Music education for child should be diverged based on age brackets and educational needs. On early childhood music education designed to combine music, story, movement, and exploration on all musical instruments. At the higher levels, children could be urged to learn music theory as well as playing specific instruments and participating on music ensemble.  

There are several well known methods for music education for children. Kindermusik and Music-in-the Box is among the notable music learning methods for early childhood combining music with movement, picture books to encourage language and reading development. Kodaly method is well known for its emphasis on singing for child music education while Suzuki method is focusing on learning specific instruments.    

Becoming a Professional Educator

If you have lots of enthusiasm on early childhood education, you could consider becoming professional educator as your future career. Well, it isn’t like the image of nasal-voiced Fran fine from The Educator TV series but it is a fact that there is an increasing demand of professional educator today.

The term of professional educator has lots more qualifications than educator profession years ago. Professional educator needed these days is professionals with knowledge in early childhood care and education or known today as child care professional. This profession offers prospective career opportunity as well as promising income. To become professional on early child care, off course you need to have particular qualifications. College degree in early childhood education will be needed if you are willing to become preschool teachers of home schooling tutors as well as day care facility directors. 

But if you are willing to become daycare professionals, college degree isn’t an absolute qualification. There are many child care training programs available with only months of duration. Even you can obtain it from online education without residency program. Don’t hesitate to learn more from National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP) for professional qualification on child care as well as accredited education and training programs for early childhood education and day care.

Are the Preschool Education Important for Kids?

It is a common fact that lots of parents send their toddler to preschool at age of 3 or 3.5 years old. However, there’s still a long lasting debate about the necessary of preschool in child education. There are divided opinions about pros and cons of preschool education for early childhood.

The pros of preschool education argue that kids could get benefits from preschool as they can obtain building blocks for their formal education as they are introduced to classroom situation earlier. Kids could also learn about social life as they interact with kids and adults at preschool. Another reason is the fact that most working parents couldn’t give full day care to their kids. By sending their kids to full day preschool child care, they could be sure that their kids are on the right supervision. 

The cons on preschool education noted that the fact that early childhood is better spent at home. Kids could build better building blocks on their knowledge and social life as long as their parents committed to their developing factors. However, researches have shown that preschool education could give benefits to adulthood, including their academic journey. Off course, those benefits could only be obtained from high quality preschools with properly educated teachers and class ratio as well as fine quality programs.

Triangular - Shaped Crayons

Once in a while, a product comes along that makes life so much easier. Sometimes it is the simplest of creations, but it changes the way things are done. Think of Post-It notes. A simple thing that changed the world.

My latest thrilling product is triangular - shaped crayons! I know, I know, crayons, markers and pencils that shape have been around for a while, but not very accessible. I'm so excited that Coloration came up with a classroom pack of these beauties. Just think, no more crayons rolling on the floor. These wonders stay where they are placed. I am packaging little bags of the crayons to take with me to restaurants when I take my grandkids. I have already had servers ask me where to get them. They really are the answer for child-friendly food establishments. It will be so nice not to be crawling under the booth to retrieve a crayon which rolled away from your child. That will make the eating experience much more positive.

I also love these for the classroom. I'm sure the number of crayons I picked up from the floor number in the millions. I like the idea of having crayons take up residency on the table and stay there. I think it does not take much to make me happy.

Going to the Right Education Goal

A couple of years ago I ran into these two signs in Hawaii. One arrow says, "Parking Lot this Way" and the second arrow pointing in the opposite direction says, "One Way." Sometimes life gives us mixed messages so that we are not sure which road to take.

As I have the opportunity to be in many classrooms each year, I often see and hear mixed messages given to the children in our classes. However, I think the mixed message that disturbs me the most is something that I observe on a regular basis. I hear teachers say, "Now, follow my directions and do exactly as I say so that you can get the right answer." Then I hear the same teacher say during a different activity, "Use your imagination, be creative. This is your project." It is no surprise to me that we are unable to get children to be creative and to develop thinking skills. The school system is so busy trying to get the children to conform to school requirements that there is little time and effort given to teach independent thinking skills.

To me, this part of education is a conflict and a mixed message. Being creative and developing thinking skills is like following the parking lot sign which is heading in the opposite direction from the world of education which continually says, "one way."

Fine Motor Skills

Wouldn't you know that I forgot the most important part of the discussion during my last entry about the triangular crayons. The most important part of that issue is not the crayon staying on the table, it is how the shape of the crayon will help young children develop fine motor skills.

During my 30+ years working in classrooms as a teacher and supervisor, I am continually reminded that we push young children into a corner with many activities that we plan and materials that we use. Early in my years of teaching kindergarten I re-discovered a monumental truth taught to me many years ago. Back in the 'olden days' my first grade teacher had it right. She insisted that we use large 'horse-leg' pencils during that first year of school (we didn't do much during the six-week summer preschool they called kindergarten back in the day). Mrs. Conklin seemed to know that our fine-motor skills were still in development. In keeping with that thinking as a teacher, I began using large-size crayons and pencils for the first half of the kindergarten year. Come January, I would slowly transition the children to standard-size instruments.

All I know is that my children consistently wrote, drew, painted and did everything better by the end of that school year. I felt it was one of my contributions to recognizing there are developmental stages to fine motor skills. Can young children write with regular pencils and crayons? Sure. But, I have observed children having difficulty with fine motor control. A child in that situation is encouraged practice. Perhaps instead of encouraging practice the adult should give the child more appropriate materials to use for her developmental level.

Now, these new triangular crayons and pencils can serve the same purpose. They give a slightly larger surface area and great angles for children to develop those skills.

Beautiful Snake - An Oxymoron

Snake lovers don't be upset, but I hate snakes. I know you can list all of the wonderful aspects of the reptiles, but I just can't make myself like snakes. I get very agitated and uncomfortable if there is a snake in the room. I have nothing against people who love them, just don't make me get close. I was reminded of this again on Sunday when we had Mother's Day dinner at a relative's home. Her daughter just got a pet snake. Everyone was raving about how beautiful the snake is with it's black and red stripes. Beautiful and snake do not belong in the same sentence in my vocabulary. They also mentioned that the snake had escaped from his cage last week and they didn't find him until the next day. If that happened at my house, there is only one thing I would say...hotel.

As an early childhood educator, I want my students to discover everything they can about our natural world. I always prefer taking children to the zoo to see live animals as opposed to the natural history museum filled with the stuffed version. But, I always drew the line at snakes. I assigned that to another adult to supervise. Sheesh...they give me the creeps. I will continue to encourage and assist children in finding out about the natural world. But, for snakes, they can go to my relative's house.

New Information

I recently did an online interview with a representative from bizymoms.com. Of course I took the opportunity to visit their site and see what they have to offer. I found a wonderful wealth of information to assist busy moms (and others) in these days of information overload.

There is such a monumental library at our disposal when we turn on our computer. I remember telling a group of students in my creativity class this spring that there was no excuse for not having documented information included in an assigned paper. When I was in school, the library was and had to be my best friend. Whenever I needed to find out more information about a subject I had two choices: interview someone who knew more about the subject than I did or go to the library and research the topic. Most of the time, I had to choose both options. I know that there are strong negatives that come with using a computer. But, the positives are so wonderful. It is a joy to type in a word and then see where it takes you in the process.

One of our new supposed-to-be-a-hen young chickens started crowing this week. This is not good as we are not allowed to keep roosters in our city boundaries. I went to the computer and learned that you can actually perform a little surgery on the rooster and take out his crowing capacity. Not that I would or could, but it was nice to know it was a possibility. No, I think that Bluebell...I mean Blue, is going to the bird rescue farm for a life in the country. I'm no surgeon, but it was fascinating to find out that there are several blogs and websites about keeping chickens in the city.

Welcoming Everybody to the Table

I am currently attending the NAEYC Professional Development Conference being held in Phoenix. I attended a wonderful workshop today about welcoming all children to the table in the classroom.

Sometimes 'null' curriculum (curriculum that we don't intentionally teach, but the children still learn) is reinforced as much as the 'explicit' curriculum (core standards). What do children understand about life in the classroom by the way we respond to daily occurrences?

We watched a video of an interview with an elementary child, Mary. Mary stated that when another child asked the teacher why Mary had two dads instead of a mom, the teacher responded, "We are not going to talk about that in this class." Mary felt unsupported and the result was that some children began to taunt Mary at recess. She began to dislike coming to school because she thought she must be a bad person.

While there are many more issues that can occur in the classroom, this episode is an example of when teachers choose not to address something they personally find uncomfortable. That refusal can speak volumes to the children.

Since our job is to support ALL children, we need to be prepared to address null curriculum issues when they happen during the school day. Much like taking a test, if we are prepared, we can address the issue and support the child. I try to ask my pre-service teachers, "What will you do or say if this happens? Or this?" I believe prior thought and understanding can prepare these future teachers to respond appropriately.

As educators, we need to always remember that a child seldom is in the position to choose his religion, culture, lifestyle or family makeup. Even though our values may be different, it is critical to support that child in his educational journey. Not doing anything or refusing to have the discussion is not an option. If the teacher in the video was uncomfortable addressing the issue, she only needed to say, "That is the makeup of Mary's family. Isn't it wonderful that all of our families are different and we can be happy." I like the part of NAEYC's Code of Ethical Conduct which says, "...do no harm."

The Rules of Creative Art

I have continued to get feedback for my blog entry a couple of months ago about disliking coloring books or pre-printed pages. I have been told there is a time and a place, but I'm still not on board with using such creativity-killing materials. I was reminded again this weekend when I was watching my grandchildren paint with tempera paint cakes. I watched the process unfold as I have many times. Creating their own pictures allow children to:
- develop organizational skills
- test experimentation skills
- explore decision-making skills
- be supported in creativity
Children that are immersed in these types of activities jump right into the project when they see what materials are available. Compare these children to those who wait to be encouraged and to see what the adult wants them to do. There is no comparison. Children who can organize, experiment, make decisions and create will always be more successful. They have the skill to think. Thinking is a good thing.

A Playground on Big Rock

We went on a family outing to southern Utah this past weekend. We were able to see Canyonlands and Natural Bridges National Parks. It was a nice adventure and I was very impressed with the Native America Petroglyphs that we were able to see while hiking. Some were off the beaten path away from most tourist spots. Like young children, they were able to tell stories through pictures. A true written dialogue.

In one park we were able to see the ruins of the Anasazi from at least 700 years ago. As we were looking at the homes in the cliffs, I was struck by the thought of how difficult it would have been to allow children to safely play on the sloping rock. We don't even allow slides on school playgrounds anymore and here was an entire village on a cliff. Where was the gate for the top of the stairs? I am happy that we are so conscious of safety in our time, but I wonder if children were more prepared for life when they had to learn how to protect themselves. Perhaps many children in the 1300s lost their lives because of their lack of protection. But, it makes me wonder if sometimes we protect children so much they don't develop life skills. Maybe protect is not the correct word. Maybe it's smother. Just thinking out loud as I wonder how they stayed up there.

I Felt Like a Hardhead

I have the opportunity to try out products for Discount School Supply on a regular basis. I was trying out some blocks a year ago and I was getting frustrated by my lack of imagination in creating something with the blocks. I gave the blocks to my grandson who was almost 3 at the time. He immediately set to work putting the blocks together. He was enthralled with the blocks for what I consider a very long time for someone who is 3. He loved them. When I was working with the blocks earlier, I was questioning how valuable they would be for preschool children. My grandson taught me a great lesson. Children know what is best for them. If given a choice, children will play all day. That is what they do. It becomes essential for those of us who work with young children to create opportunities for play. Almost every early childhood skill can be reinforced using play. Since children instinctively want to play, that should be our first clue about appropriate approaches to teaching children. It is through open-ended play the children learn to solve problems, explore the world and make decisions.

Catching

A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to live in Ireland for a period of time. Having that first-hand knowledge comes in handy at this time of year. When I was a classroom teacher, I always made a big deal about St. Patrick's Day. I used it as an opportunity to introduce the children to the country of Ireland and a little information about the Irish culture. Playing on the spoof of the leprechaun made the activities fun and adventurous. We would go on a Leprechaun Hunt or leave little goodies out for the little guy. In later years, I have seen my grandchildren build leprechaun traps to try to catch the perpetrator who was turning their milk green in the fridge.

I have always looked upon the tall tales of leprechauns as a folktale and true fantasy stemming from the Irish culture. Studies have been done that indicate that children build great foundations from folktales. In fact, folktales and fairytales provide an example of complete fantasy for young children. With virtual reality appearing in games and movies, it is difficult for young children to differentiate between fact and fiction. Folktales provide an opportunity for children to experience something that is complete fantasy. Folktales have no pretence of being real.

So, set up your leprechaun traps and see what happens to the young children around you!

Drawing Sun and Flower

I was talking to my favorite 5 year-old last week about the projects she creates. I asked her, "How do you know what to make or draw?" Her answer surprised me very much. She said to me, "First you have to start with the sun." When I asked why she started with the sun, she stated it was because it was going to be a 'happy picture', what a life lesson. Anything can be accomplished if you start with a sun. Sometimes it is a bit depressing at this time of year when we are waiting for the spring sun to start shining. My little Kaylee was telling me that sometimes we have to make our own shiny sky. If you begin with the sun, then everything following can be a happier picture.

I saw an old friend of mine this morning at the gym. He always has a smile on his face and the room just seems a little brighter when he is around. I realized he was my sun this morning and it really was like the sun starting out my day. I thought of Kaylee's advice and realized how much joy we can bring to those around us if we just 'start with the sun.' That is exactly how I felt when I was a kindergarten teacher. I think the day is really sunny with 24 suns!

claim token XUUAF9P85JVY

Healthy Kids Wrote with Chalk

It is a known fact that healthy children are able to be better learners in a classroom setting. Recently, an Ultra Healthy Blog titled, “Top 50 Early Childhood Health Blogs" named the 50 top early childhood health blogs. Although my blog was named as part of the list, there are some great resources for helping to keep young children healthy.

Childhood obesity is certainly an epidemic in our country. I think my biggest frustration with this epidemic are the factors that we can do something about, such as outdoor play at school. Schools that limit or cancel outdoor play with the excuse of needing more learning time are not doing anything to help student learning. I think some schools just don't want to deal with any problems that may occur on the playground. To my way of thinking, they are sacrificing the health of the children in their care. I'm still waiting to see documented research that says canceling recess increases student learning. I think I will be waiting a long time. All the while, young children are getting more sedentary. I think a better idea is to give teachers resources to help children stay healthy.

Humoring

I sometimes worry that children in this century are not allowed to really be kids. They are constantly surrounded by adult commentary and much of the television programing contains adult humor. We all laugh when a child on TV says something sarcastic or profound. Statements that in the real world usually don't occur. A college student mentioned to me recently how much she enjoyed the movie Kindergarten Cop when she was a child. I remember that movie well as I was a male kindergarten teacher at the time. The movie was funny and entertaining, but I was dismayed by the fact that most of the things the kindergartners said in that movie would not even occur to a five year-old. Again, adult humor masked as child humor.
I was observing a student teacher working in a first grade classroom the other day. She was reading a joke book (the children's choice) for a few minutes prior to leaving for the day.

Coloring Books

Any student who has taken a class from me at the university knows how I feel about coloring books and other pre-drawn images for children. Some adults tell me it is 'relaxing' for children to just color. Coloring books are designed to occupy a child's time. For some adults that is a good thing. If you have ever taken young children on a long car trip or to the doctor with a long wait, coloring books may serve a purpose. If for no other reason than to spread out the time between, "Are we there yet?" questions.

In school, however, color book-type pages are not appropriate, especially for young children. Teachers sometimes use those pages to keep a child busy so they can work with other children. Reading the research of Victor Lowenfeld, we find out that coloring book pages can take almost all creative thinking away from 50-60% of children. The other 40% may be effected as well, but may have been nourished enough to at least maintain some creativity. In fact, if a child continually uses pre-made pages, he may never be satisfied with anything that he draws. He will be upset that his drawings look like a child's drawings, not the adult drawings in coloring books.

There are much better things to give children to occupy their time. Crayons and a blank sheet of paper are much more appropriate. Paints and watercolors are also effective to allow the child to create. One of my favorite activities is to give children construction paper and glue (scissors for 4+ children). I ask them to create a picture of themselves using just tearing/cutting the paper and the glue. This can be done with any theme or activity. Many adults would be shocked at the amazing projects that the children create. So, in my 30+ years working with children, I am even more convinced that coloring books can be the enemy. I want the children I have in my care to be thinkers and creaters, not colorers.

Scraping the Surface

Scraping the Surface

I'm sure that many educators have done scratch art with a group of children. Whether you use commercially prepared scratch paper or create your own, it is a fun activity. The procedure usually involves children scratching the black covering off a piece of prepared paper. Hidden underneath the black are different colors that are revealed when the black is removed. I love to use this analogy with teachers about discovering the colors that lie underneath the surface of a child. Sometimes it takes a bit of work and creativity to discover those colors, but it is always worth the effort. As with scratch art paper, underneath the black there is a rainbow of colors. Those colors allow the artist to create an amazing picture as the colors pop out of the darkness. Many children come to our classrooms with a layer of dark. It is up to the educator to do more than just scratch the surface, but find the hidden colors and beauty beneath.