Sunday, April 26, 2009

Education of Young Children

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Making Education Entertaining For Ages 3 to 7



By: C.C. Rowe

Everyone wants to have fun when learning. Our kids, well, it seems all they want to do is have fun. Thankfully though, the two can work together. In fact, experts all agree that the more fun learning is for children, the quicker they will develop new skills and the sooner they will be able to apply what they learn.

Making learning fun for kids is not always so easy, however. Sometimes, a child just wants to play all by themselves, maybe by singing a nonsensical song they make up on the fly or just by entertaining themselves with pots and pans. And sure, almost all physical and mental exercise for kids, especially toddlers, can be beneficial. Sometimes though, we just want to insert some real lessons into playtime.

One of the most productive ways to make learning fun for kids is to put lessons into music. Kids music is full of lessons and educational content for growing children and can be made a part of their day in a number of ways. From rides in the car to bath time to bedtime, audio books and CDs can be listened to in just about any environment today. Since children like to mimic what they see and hear from adults, parents should sing along to their kids music as often as possible, especially when it contains a learning experience, such as information about animals, numbers, colors or language. By actively participating in the lesson, you will encourage your children to remain attentive, as it will become an avenue for ongoing interaction.

Another way to make learning fun for kids is to encourage creativity. Give children blocks and toys that involve physical activity and that require dexterity, both mental and physical. Nothing makes a child more happy than knowing they met a challenge and pleased those who they look up to, like an older sibling or parent. Silly Puddy and Play doh are great tools for creative expression. Ask your child to create something simple, like a rock or ball, and then move to something a little more complex as they get a bit better, like a small animal or even a person. The point is to combine thinking and physical activity with items they typically associate with play time.

Instead of coloring books with figures and shapes already created, work with your child using a blank pad and markers to draw and color shapes. Spend time focusing on important shape names, like circle, square and triangle. Your child will then be able to recognize these shapes in the world around them when they see a wheel, a house or pictures of the Great Pyramids.

As your child ages past kindergarten, around six or seven, challenge them with riddles and rhymes. Simple word games can do wonders for a growing child s vocabulary and language skills. Audio CDs for kids and a large number of childrens books and stories are full of this type of content. Dr. Seuss stories are true wonders of word play and can demonstrate the characteristics of poems and music.

Young children today will have computer skills that most parents couldn t master until middle age. Therefore, make sure you are working alongside your child when they are on the Internet. Not only is it the best way to ensure the Web sites they view are safe, it can provide a terrific learning experience. There is a seemingly endless array of Web sites for children, full of kids music and MP3 downloads, as well as interactive games that involve other children who are logged on across the country. And, since the computer is something very young children can t wait to get their curious hands on, allowing them to view a Web site that teaches will not only engage their minds but allow you as the parent to remain involved, which is one of the surest ways to make sure your child has fun when its time to learn.



Author Resource:->  Shoofly Audio creates audio for children including kids' music, children's books on audio & Storytelling. The award winning audio series is available on CD or MP3 for download. To order the Shoofly Audio series for children visit http://www.shooflyaudio.com or call 1-888-929-9401.

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cool Education Stuff

  1. I'm following some cool people with lots of good stuff for education. URLs anyone? Anyone? I also have lots of my own good ideas for educating children. Visit http://www.starfall.com for FREE reading material. It is an absolutely excellent site for beginning and young readers. Check it out and bookmark it!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Quote by Lee Iacocca


"In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have."
 
 
-Lee Iacocca (former CEO of Ford Motor Company)

Essential Service


The teachers of British Columbia, Canada (including myself), have been designated an essential service by the government of BC. The government then proceeded to strip our contract and fine us $500,000 a day when we went on strike. We negotiated in good faith for working conditions in our contract, often foregoing a raise in pay. 
We are the only group of teachers in Canada to be deemed essential. (Possibly the only group in the world!) This is ridiculous! Education is not a matter of life and death.
Gordon Campbell, the leader of the Liberal party that stripped our contract, has taken his children out of school prior to the Christmas break on several occasions. He is basically saying all teachers must be in school, but the children we teach don't have to be there!
His government is destroying the education system in BC. The system is in shambles!
He fought the teachers every step of the way regarding a pay raise and then voted himself a raise of 54%. His justification for this raise was to attract smart people into politics. In an earlier blog, I mentioned that his intention must be to attract dumb teachers into the field of education. Actually, you'd have to be dumb to enter the profession anyway. Either dumb or crazy!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Keep Your Mind Active


I started doing Sudoku, even though I hate math! Now I prefer it to crossword puzzles. I'm just trying to stave off senility, but I can't remember if it's working yet!
Actually, this blog would also fit with my health posts. 
The point is: keep your mind active! As your body begins to deteriorate around your brain, at least you can think about mind over matter!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Most influenced


When people are asked to think about who most influenced them during their life, it's interesting to note that many speak of a particular teacher. One would think that a parent, a celebrity, a relative, a hero, a friend, a chance meeting would be remembered in this category. 
Your child spends more time with his/her teacher/s than with any other person. Of course they are going to be influenced!
Yet teachers are often criticized, disrespected and expected to be the perfect person above all others.
It's makes me feel very sad when I think about my teaching career. I put so much of my life into it for very little recognition. I gave my all and it drained me dry. At the end of it I came away with a very small pension.
I loved my students. But the job was a nightmare!
My daughter would have been an ideal teacher...a natural. All her teachers mentioned this to me. I discouraged her from becoming a teacher. I said over and over again, "Look what it did to me. Do you really want to put yourself through that!"
She's now teaching at the college level and has decided it's not for her. 
If you're considering entering the teaching profession, get your head examined!

Tutoring

Anyone looking for an online English as a second language tutor with 30 years experience as a certified teacher in the public school system? If there is enough interest, I will set up a tutoring site.